The Pains of Love
by Gracilynn
Summary: The guys find a homeless girl in an alleyway of New York City and take her in. Soon, her and a certain turtle begin to become more than just friends... but what seems like an innocent crush could turn out to be much worse than one would think. Will this romance work out? Or will it just cause more problems than they started with?
1. Chapter 1

**Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, readers! I **_**finally **_**started this book again! To those of you who read the first version of this book and stuck with me for all this time, thank you and welcome back! You will notice I changed quite a bit, but the basic plot is the same. I just really didn't like the original as I thought it was very short and poorly written, so I decided to fix it. As you know, I removed that story from my account and I have been slowly working on ideas of how to change it up, and I hope you like it! If you are just reading this story for the first time now, I hope you like it as well, of course! I'm super excited to finally work on this story againnnn! Well, here you go! :D**

Emilynn's frail fingers clenched down tighter onto her thin blanket as another gust of freezing wind blasted by, attempting to uplift whatever it could into the bleak, snow-filled sky. Emilynn's long dark hair flew all around her, the ends of it whipping her face and stinging her eyes. She couldn't feel her toes. She couldn't feel her fingers. They were all just numb stubs, frozen into uselessness by the bitter cold. It was all she could think of. Cold, cold, cold. Freezing, wet, cold. The only thing she had to protect her from the snow storm was the sheet of cardboard that was above her head, held in place by the the lids of the two dumpsters on either side of her being clamped down heavily onto it. With the current weather conditions, it did her little good.

She huddled further back into her small corner in between the dumpsters, continuously scrunching and un-scrunching her toes from inside her worn down and ratty boots, trying to keep them the slightest bit warm. She wished she could cry. She wished she could just let it all out and at least feel a bit better. But, no. Crying was for the weak. And, in this weather, for those who wanted frozen icicle tracks down their face. Instead, she brought the blanket over her face and waited it out.

_It's only a memory. _She repeated to herself mentally. This moment was just a terrible point in time that will all eventually be in the past, left as nothing but a painful memory. She just had to wait it out, to be strong, then it will all be over, like it never happened.

But that string of thoughts was as hard to hold on to as the freezing wind itself. So instead she tried another.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she can do some kind of act for money. Tomorrow she would do something. Like the song from _Annie... _besides the fact that the sun was most likely not going to shine for some time now. Tomorrow. That was all she could hope for. If only she could survive long enough to get there. If she did, though, she would do anything. She could even challenge her raw throat and sing again. The last time she had sang had been way back when-

Emilynn stopped. That string of thoughts was one she _didn't _want to grasp. She wished she could just cut the string away, cut it into little pieces, burn it, tie it into a huge knot and throw it as far as she could. But no, for instead of a small harmless string it was like a huge, heavy chain, attached to her body and following her wherever she went, plaguing her for eternity as they had to Marley after death.

She pulled her sweatshirt further up, burying her face into the skimpy artificial fur that lined the insides.

But, what else was there? Her whole life was in the past. She couldn't escape it. She couldn't go back.

She had to keep living. She had to just fight through day after day of cold, of hunger, of loneliness. No matter what, she couldn't give up. If she was going, she was going out fighting.

A shudder so violent that it rattled the dumpster beside her rocked Emilynn's body, and despite herself she let out a sudden cry of agony. This was by far the worst night she had been stuck outside in the five years that she had been homeless.

"Please help me." She found herself croaking out to the night air. She immediately regretted it as the freezing air struck her bare teeth, sending a painful shock of cold through her mouth. _Please help me. _This time she thought it, not wanting to have to expose her sensitive teeth to the night air for a second time. She began rocking back and forth, squeezing her tiny body as tight as she could, attempting to retain some kind of heat. Her teeth chattered so roughly that she feared they may shatter and her body trembled to the point where she caused the dumpsters on either side of her to shake loudly.

_Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. _Emilynn repeated inside her head. She continued chanting it to herself, forcing her body to shut off, forcing her mind to focus of nothing but those three words, over and over, echoing though her skull to the point where it made her want to rip her hair out, and yet she needed it. It soothed her, in a desperate, hopeless way. She felt her body getting weaker. So weak, she realized, that she couldn't move. She couldn't lift her head from her knees, she couldn't even bend a finger if she tried. She began to panic, to loose the sense of detachment she had just a moment before.

_Am I dying? _She suddenly thought. Is this it? Is this what death felt like? She had never imagined it to be like this. She had never imagined what it would be like to actually be dying, to know that you only had moments left. She knew that she was going to die one day. She had known for many nights that she could die at any moment, due to the weather, to illness, to lack of food, almost anything. Death was not something she had never thought of. Yet, she had never really expected it to happen. She could remind herself that she could die at any moment, and yet she somehow felt as if it wasn't actually possible. Dying is one of the things that you always hear about, everyone dies. But somehow it's hard to believe that it will happen to yourself. The very idea is unimaginable, because dying is something you can never understand until you experience it.

Emilynn found it hard to believe. She couldn't be dying. And yet, her mind told her that logically it had to be true. She was starving, she was sick, and now she was going to die from the cold. Her mind seemed to continuously grow slower, and she felt even more panicked, but, somehow the more panicked she became, the more calm she became. The more accepting. She didn't want to die. But she was going to, and that was okay.

She continued to think this way, until even her thoughts seemed to fade away, and she fell into a deep nothingness.

**There you go! I hope you liked it! I hope all you people who read the original like the changes I made, and I hope all you people who haven't read it like it just as much! Please review and tell me what you think! Byeeeeeeee!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Where am I? _

Emilynn wasn't entirely sure if she was even awake. Her head seemed to be spinning and she had no clue what was going on. She couldn't see a thing.

Her eyes weren't open. Her mind seemed to have decided to wake up before her body did. She wasn't impatient to wake up, however, as she felt warmth all around her. It seemed as though she was dreaming of a huge blanket wrapped around her. It was an amazing feeling, and she wished that she could stay in this strange dream forever. It almost felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

Suddenly she remembered what had happened last night. If it had even been last night. _Could I _actually _be in heaven? _She thought. _Am I dead? _

She couldn't say she was disappointed. It was so warm and soft. She would happily stay in this place forever. But was it really heaven? Why couldn't she see it? And were was everything, everyone?

Maybe there wasn't anything in heaven. Maybe this was it, just a silent, soft, warm resting place for everyone's souls. Or maybe Emilynn's heaven didn't have any people simply because she had always been alone. There wasn't exactly anyone she would want to see. But still, she had pictured there to be _something _else, besides this amazing feeling. Something to see, something to hear.

Just as she thought this, she actually _did _hear something. She heard what sounded like someone talking, except it was very fuzzy and difficult for her to make out, as if she had been listening to someone through a thick wall. As she continued to listen to it, trying to tell what it was, it became clearer and clearer until she realized that it actually _was _voices. Not only one, but two. They were male voices. They sounded young.

"I already told you. _No._" One of them said.

"Come on, Leo! We can't just leave her out in the cold again!" Said the second, lighter male voice.

Emilynn thought of the terrible cold she had just been in. Could these voices mean her? She wondered once again whether or not this was a dream after all.

"Sorry, Mikey. She can't stay here." Said the first voice.

"But-"

"But nothing. You know it's not safe for us to be seen. We can't put our family in danger like that."

"Come on, look at her! Does she look like she could hurt anyone? Donnie, tell him she should stay!"

A new voice joined them. Another male. "Sorry, Mikey." It said. "I have to agree with Leo on this one. There's just too high a percentage that she will freak out once she sees us and totally blow our cover. The last thing we want is for her to tell people and get us hunted down by a bunch of superstitious lunatics."

"Guys!" The lightest voice cried. "I thought she was dead out there! I probably saved her life! What if this happens again and I'm not there to help her?"

"Who cares?" Said a new, gruffer voice suddenly. _Who are all these people? _Emilynn wondered.

"What do you mean, Raph?" One of the other voices asked.

" 's not like she's got anything to live for, anyways." The newest voice replied.

"That's totally heartless, dude!" The light voice whined.

"Not if its the truth. Why try to make up some kind of willy-nilly fantasy instead of just facing the facts? You shouldn't have saved her in the first place."

"Not true!"

"Yeah, Mikey. It is."

"Nah uh!"

"I got a pair of fists willing to teach you otherwise!"

"Guys!" One of the previous voices interrupted. "Stop it! Mikey, Just hurry up and take her back to where you found her before she wakes up and gets us all busted! Master Splinter could be finished with his meditation any second now. Just _imagine _the trouble we would be in if he found out!"

"Leo-"

"_Mikey._"

There was a groan. "Okay, okay!"

The conversation seemed to have ended, followed by a shuffling of feet as Emilynn tried to think. Somewhere in the midst of their speech her head had begun to throb. They had been talking about her, right? Who was 'they,' anyway? And _where _were they? She had no clue what was going on. She kept her eyes shut, in the fear that if she opened them the warmth and softness all around her would disappear.

Suddenly her body was jostled, and she felt herself being lifted up and held. She groaned, realizing her comfortable moment was now over.

"It's okay." Said a whisper dangerously close to her face. "Don't worry," It said, "I'll take care of you."

* * *

Emily gasped as she suddenly woke up. She jolted upward into a sitting position, and immediately regretted it as the freezing air squeezed her body tightly, savagely welcoming her back from that mysterious warm place she had just left. She squinted out at the world around her, practically blinded by the immense whiteness of the surrounding area. Her heart sank as she saw thick icy flakes raining down upon the same alleyway she had survived in for the past five years.

She scolded herself. Of course it was a dream. Just a very, very bizarre dream. With a deep sigh and a hard shiver, she sadly crawled back into the safety of her blanket. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth as she shrieked and shot up as though she had been electrocuted.

She ripped the blanket away from her, staring at it. It was a huge, thick, dull brown blanket, with many patches sewn into it. It looked like it hadn't been used in quite some time. She gaped at it. This was _not _her blanket. Who did this? She thought of the dream. Could it be possible...? She shook her head, perplexed. How could this be? A huge shiver rattled her body, and she reluctantly snuggled back into the huge unfamiliar blanket.

She stared at the blanket and then squinted out into the blinding snow-filled area around her, perplexed. How did this happen? As her eyes adjusted, they suddenly spotted another oddity, laying by her feet. It was a duffel bag. She blinked, almost expecting it to disappear. But no, there it lay still as her eyes opened again. She shook her head in disbelief. How did all this stuff get here? The layer of snow atop the dull yellow duffel bag was thin, suggesting that the bag had only been sitting there a short while. She stared at it with wide eyes, not being able to believe the strange appearance of these things.

Finally it occurred to her that she should look inside the bag. She hesitantly reached out for the large bag and grabbed a frosty strap, pulling it in towards her. She was surprised to find it heavier than she had anticipated. She sat it on her lap and brushed off the layer of snow it held. She clenched her chilled hands together afterward, shaking them with a heavy outward breath. Reluctantly she grabbed onto the freezing metal zipper and pulled it along the length of the bag, revealing its contents.

The first thing she saw was an envelope. She ignored it for the moment, lifting out the material beneath the envelope and finding that it was clothes. After looking through them she found that there was, all in good condition, three shirts- one long sleeved v-neck with flowers on it and two t-shirts with graphic designs on them, two pairs of fresh jeans, and a thick sweatshirt. Emilynn realized that there was tears in her eyes as she dug farther. Under the clothes was a pair of converse sneakers that appeared to be brand new, and a bright yellow hairbrush. Beneath the shoes was what appeared to be a small coin purse. She shook her head in utter disbelief and picked up the purse with shaky hands. Holding her breath, she unzipped the purse. As she saw what lay inside, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face. They left freezing cold tracks of wetness on her cheeks, but she paid them no heed. She grinned as she cried as she pulled from inside the bag a small folded up twenty dollar bill that, once unfolded, revealed another one. And another. And at the end a five dollar bill seemed to have been thrown in as a side thought. She clutched the money tightly so her chest, then grabbed the duffel bag as well.

Then she remembered the envelope in her lap. She reached down and picked it up. Flipping it over, she saw, in smudged pencil that seemed to be hastily written, the words _To the pretty girl by the dumpsters_.

_Pretty? _She thought. It had been so long since someone had ever called her that. But that was back in a time she didn't want to think about.

She tore open the envelope as carefully as she could manage with her icy fingers. The short message inside read like this:

_I saw you passed out by those dumpsters the other day. You looked pretty messed up, so I thought I would help you. The clothes are the smallest I could find so I hope they fit. You're freaking tiny, you know. Don't be afraid to buy yourself something nice with the money. I'll be back with more. _

They'll be back with more? After all that they had already given her? She couldn't believe it. Who was this person? Why did they care so much about her, of all people? She was just some random homeless girl. There was so many questions.

"Thank you." She found herself saying, receiving a bite on the tongue by the cold air. Nonetheless, she repeated it, louder. "Thank you!" She called into the torturous snow filled sky in the hopes that somehow whoever had left this could hear her.

* * *

**Chapter two! Whew! I'm too tired to type anymore and I'm sure you guys don't want to read this anyways, so ya know. I hope you liked it, please stick around for the next chapter and reviews are very much appreciated! Baii!**


	3. Chapter 3

Slowly, Emilynn worked up the nerve to get up, wielding the small bundle of possessions she now had. As the blanket fell from her body, she immediately was consumed by cold. Shivers overwhelmed her as she hugged herself awkwardly through her bundle. She crept from her tiny 'living area,' turning and securely wedging the large bag into a corner along with her blanket so that it was invisible from the road.

Feeling that it was safe, Emilynn turned and trudged through the snow towards the street. She stepped out into the open quickly, trying not to draw attention to herself. She turned and headed to the pizza place next door that made up one of the brick walls lining her alleyway. It had been so long since she had been in there. At one point, this restaurant had been her savior. And now, it will be again. A young man and woman donned in large winter coats walked out of the restaurant as Emilynn reached the door. They stared at her as though she was an alien.

"Hi." She offered, smiling at them awkwardly. If they noticed, they paid her no heed, simply walking off in the other direction. Emilynn sighed and caught the door before it closed. The warm air surrounded her as soon as she slipped inside, causing her to sigh in content. It smelled amazing, as any decent pizza place usually does. Her stomach starting gnashing at such a powerful scent of food. She winced, clenching her bundle tightly to her noisy stomach. The bathrooms were by the door, so she forced herself inside the appropriate room before she started drooling.

It was a single-person bathroom with pink tiled walls and a checkered pattern of pink and gray tiles on the floor. There was a scent of roses lingering in the air. Emilynn breathed it in happily. She locked the door and stepped in front of the mirror.

She set her bundle of supplies down on the counter and raised a cautious hand to her face, running it over her prominent cheekbones and jawline as she studied her features. She frowned at how dirty and tired she looked. She looked at her stingy clothes, holding her arms out and watching the way the dirty sweatshirt hung off of her tiny arms. Too skinny. Her clothes appeared to be swallowing her whole. She twisted around in the mirror, scrutinizing herself. She had always had a very petite, feminine figure, but at this point she looked like a walking stick. It was terrible.

She focused her attention away from her scary body and instead reached her hands up to her head, pulling of her hood. Her hair looked even worse. It was balled up to her head in a bun she had made several days ago. Dirty strands fell in all directions around her face. She stuck her tongue out at her reflection, and grabbed onto the huge mound, trying to locate the old hair tie that held it together. Once her fingers caught hold of it, she yanked it harshly, grunting in pain. She continued pulling on it until she heard a snap as it broke. She untangled it from her hair and threw it away.

Her hair collapsed all over her head, flopping in a way that seemed as tired as Emilynn felt. She huffed as she began untangling it the best she could. By the time she was finished, her hair hung in dirty black waves past her hips. She was surprised to see that it was much longer than she had thought it was. She swung her head, watching the way it brushed the tops of her legs. She pinched a strand between her index finger and her thumb, rubbing it between them. It was greasy. She hadn't been able to wash it in some time. She frowned thoughtfully and looked around the small bathroom. Her eyes landed on the soap dispenser hanging on the wall beside the sink. She stared at it for a moment, then shrugged to herself. Might as well.

She turned the faucet of the sink, which squealed in protest before releasing a rush of water. She leaned forward and put her head under the faucet, wetting her hair. She reached for the soap dispenser, squirting some of the silvery-pink liquid into her palm. She began massaging it through her dirty hair.

Once she had finished, she put her head beneath the faucet again, watching the bubbles stream from her hair and swirl down the sink drain. Once the bubbles ceased flowing, she lifted her dripping head from the sink. She grabbed a handful of paper towels from the other side of the sink and began rubbing them against her hair in a feeble attempt to dry it.

Eventually she gave up and grabbed the yellow hairbrush from her pile of stuff. She studied it intensely, but found no hairs in it. It looked like it had never been used. She put it to her hair, ignoring all the warnings ringing in her head that had been told to her about using a stranger's hair products. She squeezed her eyes shut as she began painfully wrestling the brush through her incredibly tangled hair.

Finally she felt satisfied, and she set the brush down. She swung her hair forward, running her hands through it. She smiled at how nice it felt. She grabbed a few more towels and ran them under the faucet, using them to scrub at her smudged face until she was satisfied with that as well.

She threw away those towels and looked to the pile of clothes she brought in with her. She grinned at the idea of fresh new clothes and began peeling off her old grubby outfit. She looked down at her underclothing, then with another shrug to herself she peeled them off, too. They weren't much use to her at this point, anyway. She paused for a moment after reluctantly cramming her old clothes into the garbage can. She looked into the mirror at her naked body. She couldn't believe how skinny she was. It was almost grotesque. She looked at her breasts uncertainly. They, too, were smaller than she wished they would be. She shivered as her wet hair stroked her bare body and grabbed the clothes. She slipped into the long-sleeved shirt, and sighed out loud at how nice the clean material felt against her worn skin. It was much too big for her, hanging low over her butt. This did not faze her in the least. She hugged herself happily, rubbing the soft shirt with glee. She next grabbed the pair of jeans and slid into them. They, too, were too big for her. She pulled the waist up, folding it over so it didn't fall off of her skinny hips. She knelt down and rolled up the legs as well. Once she finished adjusting them so that they wouldn't fall off of her and she wouldn't trip and fall on her face in them, she felt much better. They looked a bit ridiculous, but she didn't mind. The next thing she grabbed was the new sweatshirt. She slipped it over her shirt and zipped it up. She shivered with glee, holding it to her face and smelling it. It smelled new and fresh. The only remaining thing was the pair of socks and the shoes that also looked brand new. She slipped them on. She stretched her toes in them. They felt so nice. They, unlike the other clothes, actually fit her. She couldn't hold in her squeal of excitement. She looked at herself in the mirror, holding out her arms and twirling around gleefully.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She whispered, hugging herself happily. She looked back in the mirror. She already looked completely different. The clothes looked way too big for her, and she was still visibly a twig, but now she at least looked clean and she was comfortable. Her hair was already drying in long, soft black waves down her back. She twirled a lock on her finger, admiring how nice it looked. It had gotten much wavier since she was little. It looked beautiful.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Emilynn gasped with surprise as she remembered where she was.

"U-uh, Just a second!" She called out. A fit of coughs followed. Her throat was ragged from the cold weather. She cleared her throat and quickly cleaned up the mess she had made, cramming the brush and the money into her sweatshirt pockets.

She opened the door to a middle-aged looking woman with two golden haired girls hanging to her legs. The woman stepped to the side, gently pulling the girls along with her. She frowned at Emilynn's appearance, but quickly looked away from her body and smiled politely. Emilynn smiled back and held the door for her.

"Thanks." The woman said softly as she took the door and ushered the girls into the bathroom. Emilynn smiled at the littlest girl as she stared quizzically at Emilynn with giant green eyes. The woman took her arm gently and pulled her into the bathroom. Emilynn turned and walked to the door that lead into the restaurant part of the building.

She pulled it open, and immediately the warm smells amplified, setting her stomach into a rage. It felt like there was a monster inside her, clawing at her stomach, demanding to be fed. It's growls suddenly emerged, and Emilynn put a hand to her stomach, willing it to be silent. It calmed for a moment, so she walked in. There was a few people scattered around the place, but she looked away from them and continued to the counter. There was a kind looking woman waiting for her behind a glass case of ready-to-eat pizza.

"Hi." Emilynn said hoarsely.

"Hi," The woman said, giving Emilynn a concerned look. "how can I help you?" She asked, looking at Emilynn as though she thought that Emilynn would ask her for a house to live in.

"Uh, I'll just have a slice of that one." Emilynn said, her voice coming out in an awkward raspy way. She cleared her throat awkwardly. She pointed to the plain pizza.

"Alright." The woman said, placing a slice onto a paper plate. Just then, Emilynn's stomach rumbled loudly again. The woman looked at Emilynn, who smiled awkwardly. The woman smiled back, staring at Emilynn's figure thoughtfully before grabbing another slice and putting it on the plate.

"O-oh, I said only one, ma'am." Emilynn said quickly. The woman looked up at her and smiled kindly.

"I know." She said. "But I think you need a little more than that."

"N-no, I'm alright." Emilynn said.

The woman shook her head. "Come on. I need to put a new pizza up here anyway. Just take the rest of this one." She said. And with that, she loaded the last two pieces from the tray onto Emilynn's plate. Before Emilynn could object, the woman slid the plate across the counter, pushing it into Emilynn's hands. Emilynn looked down at it.

"O-okay. Uh, Thank you!" Emilynn said uncertainly. "Oh!" She said, digging into her pocket for her money. "How much does it cost for all of them?" She asked. She grabbed a twenty dollar bill and held it out to the woman, who shook her head and pushed it away.

"It's on me. No charge." She said.

Emilynn looked at her, shocked, then quickly shook her head back.

"No, please. I have enough." She said, holding out her money again.

The woman laughed kindly. "It's yours." She said. "Take it. Use that money to buy yourself something nice."

Emilynn looked down at the plate of food and at her money. __But this __was__something nice! __She slowly put the money back into her pocket, grabbing the plate. The woman grinned at her.

"There you go." She said.

"T-thank you." Emilynn said. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem!" The woman replied.

Emilynn grabbed her plate and moved to a nearby booth. She sat down, placing the food before her. She looked down at it, the monster in her stomach clawing away viciously. She grabbed a slice and bit into it. It was overwhelming. The next thing she knew, she had devoured the entire plate. She put a hand to her stomach. The monster was finally silent. It had been forever since she had eaten that much food, and she was slightly nauseous.

"We're here for the order for Hamato, please." Emilynn heard a teenage girl tell the new person behind the counter. Emilynn looked up to see she had on a thick sweatshirt much like the one Emilynn was wearing now. She had a ponytail of orange-y red hair and bright green-blue eyes. Her cheeks were freckled. Next to her was a boy that looked the same age as her with a black hat on his head over his shaggy black hair. He grinned to himself, and Emilynn noticed a large portion of his front teeth was missing.

The man behind the counter came back with four boxes of pizza, which the boy grabbed, much to his disapproval.

"Come on April! Why do I gotta carry all of 'em?" He whined childishly. April rolled her eyes.

"Because I'm not going through what happened last time again, Casey." She answered as she paid the man behind the counter.

Emilynn got up to throw away her trash. Casey lumbered by right behind her as she threw her stuff away, his arm knocking into her. He swung around, looking down at her from behind his stack of pizza.

"Woah, sorry chick! You're so tiny, I didn't even see ya there!" He said.

"It's fine." Emilynn said, looking up at him. He easily stood about a foot above her at her tiny five foot height. He looked at her strangely, the same way everyone else had today.

"Are you going to eat that all yourself?" She asked, attempting to make conversation.

"Huh? Oh, no. My pals are real monsters with pizza." He smirked. "They can eat about a box each."

"I know how they feel." Emilynn said.

Casey looked down at her body. "For real? You look like you've never ate once in your life." He said. Emilynn looked down at herself awkwardly.

"Casey, shut up!" April scolded as she came up behind him with a large Pepsi in her hands. She looked at Emilynn apologetically. "Sorry about him. He tends to speak without thinking."

Emilynn smiled awkwardly. "It's fine." She said.

April smiled back. She looked down at Emilynn's clothes and made a face. "I uh, like your clothes." She said slowly, then she suddenly shoved Kasey, who cried out in surprise. "Come on Casey, before it gets cold." She waved at Emilynn. "See ya."

"Bye." Emilynn said as they walked out. She walked back to her booth and sat down in it, staring out the window as they walked away into the snowy streets. She sighed. She didn't want to go back out there, not yet. She settled into the seat, rubbing her hands over her new clothes happily. At least she had new things. She stared at the fat snowflakes that fell from the sky slowly, wondering who on Earth could have given her all that stuff. She thought of the the dream she had earlier. She wasn't even sure that it __had __been a dream. But, what else could it have been? Who could those people have been that had been arguing to each other? She snuggled into the corner of the booth with a yawn. It doesn't matter. She thought. They're gone now.

* * *

Emilynn was wrenched awake by the handle of the bag that she had been holding in her sleep. There was a man over her, grabbing the other strap.

"Hey!" Emilynn shrieked. "Stop!" She kicked her legs out, banging them into the man. He grunted loudly and wrenched the bag towards him again. "No!" Emilynn yelled as her grip was lost and the man ran away with the bag thrown over his shoulder. She slumped back in defeat as he disappeared around the bend. It was no use.

She quickly shoved her hands in her pockets, searching. They were empty. She recalled putting the money back into the bag before she slept so that she wouldn't lose it. The irony cut her like a knife.

This wouldn't be the first time she had been robbed. She had had her stuff stolen many times by people less fortunate than her. That's the main reason she stopped trying to hold onto possessions. She liked to refer to them as the people less fortunate, because they were so poor that they had to steal to survive. She knew that in reality they most likely were just jerks that wanted money, but she figured she might as well be positive as often as she could.

She looked around her. All she had now was her large blanket and the new clothes she had been given. That means that she would have to go back to hunting for food sooner than she had thought. She sighed, crawling out and standing up. It was warmer today. The air was chilly and made her shiver, but it was bearable.

What to do. She paced the alley aimlessly. A paper fluttered by. She paid it no heed until it flipped over in the wind, revealing that it was an envelope. Her note! She recognized the writing on the front of it, addressed to her. She quickly stomped on it to stop it from blowing away. She picked it up. It had been in the side of the bag. It must have fallen out when the man ran away with her possessions. She opened it and pulled the letter out from inside.

__I saw you passed out by those dumpsters the other day. You looked pretty messed up, so I thought I would help you. The clothes are the smallest I could find so I hope they fit. You're freaking tiny, you know. Don't be afraid to buy yourself something nice with the money. I'll be back with more.__

__I'll be back with with more.__

They said they would come back. With more stuff. What else could they want to give her? She looked out towards the street. When were they planning on coming, anyway? She wanted to meet this stranger. She had to thank them. She shivered. She knelt down and wrapped herself in her blanket, crawling back into her 'hole.'

All she had to do was wait.

And wait.

And wait.


	4. Chapter 4

How long had it been?

Emilynn gazed out into the gray alley. The sun had moved past the small strip of sky that covered her bleak alley, and the cold was settling in. Emilynn pulled her new blanket tighter around her, shifting her body and trying to seal up all of the open spaces inside her cocoon. Her stomach growled miserably, and she groaned in the same manner right back at it. She squeezed her eyes shut. The blackness that consumed her could almost be considered comforting. It was better than those walls. The hideous gray brick that she had to stare at every day.

Inside the security of her eyelids, she began to imagine. She brought on a picture of a huge sun, shining on her through a window where she sat, secure in her own bed and surrounded by a huge pile of luxurious pillows and blankets. She imagined the feel of it hitting her skin. She shivered happily. It was bliss.

Her stomach wailed again in desperation, and a sharp pain gripped her midsection tightly. She took in a huge breath with a moan, grabbing at her stomach. The pain wouldn't stop. She keeled over, laying her head on the freezing ground. The cold immediately stabbed her skull, making her entire head pulse with pain. But it was better than her stomach. Eventually she managed to make the pain in her stomach subside. She sat back up and re-curled herself into her massive new blanket.

She settled back into her imagination, seeing herself sprawled out on a soft, warm bed- No. It wasn't working. She was too cold. Her lungs were freezing. She held her breath, hating the icy feel inside of her body. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to see only the illusion behind her eyelids. The longer she held her breath, the warmer it got. She smiled in her mind, happy. She lay on her soft bed and listened to beating of her heart. Slowly, the timing of the thumps grew more and more spaced out, and she felt warmer and warmer. Her head started to throb, but she ignored it. The slower her heart got, the fuller her stomach felt. And it felt good.

_This is all I want_. She thought to herself. Her lungs screamed in protest, but she ignored them. She was happy. She lay in her bed with a smile on her face. It was getting more and more real as every second ticked by. She couldn't feel her heart anymore. She couldn't feel anything.

"Hey."

Emilynn eyes shot open, and her entire body convulsed. She fell forward onto her hands and knees, gasping for air. Claws of freezing cold wind shoved themselves in her mouth, raking down her throat until it felt like ribbons. She gagged down the spears, falling to her side in pain. Her insides burned like they were on fire. She tried to stop herself, but she couldn't put an end to her own choking as her body forced itself to gulp down the pain.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Emilynn suddenly felt huge hands on her. As much as she wanted to, she physically couldn't protest as they lifted her up from the freezing ground and sat her upright. "Hey." The voice said once again, right in front of her face. It was panicked, and Emilynn vaguely felt herself being shaken. Emilynn couldn't see anything. Her vision was swimming with huge black dots. She couldn't focus.

Suddenly, Emilynn felt herself being smothered. She flailed, and only ended up making it harder and harder to move.

"Calm down, calm down." The voice said, suddenly gentle. Despite being terrified, Emilynn found herself doing as it said. She curled herself into a tight ball and stopped moving. Surprisingly, in a few moments she found that she could breath again. Her throat still burned, but the freezing air around her had slowly turned warm and thick, coating her sore hurt throat instead of ripping it apart. When she had calmed enough to think straight, she realized that she had been wrapped tightly in her own blanket.

"So... Are you okay in there?" The voice asked. Now that Emilynn could focus, she recognized the voice as a young sounding male.

She tried to murmur some kind of response, but her voice failed her. The sound she made was nothing more than a raspy gust of wind.

"You're not, like, _dead _in there, are you?" He asked. She heard a slight shuffle, and then felt what seemed like a very soft poke at her side. She recoiled slightly at the touch. There was a relieved sounding sigh from the other side of her blanket, but no other words were said.

Slowly, she uncurled herself and untangled her limbs from the blanket. She sat as upright as she could manage, and poked the top of her head out from the blanket. She didn't dare the expose any more than her squinting eyes.

The edges of her vision were still dark and specked with strange dots, but her eyes managed to make out the ugly gray bricks of the wall across from her. She looked around, but there was nothing. No one.

"Hello?" She rasped stupidly. There _had _been someone there. She wasn't crazy.

She heard a throat being cleared, then a moments later: "I'm above you." He said, which a quick, nervous sounding laugh.

She scooted forward, out of her makeshift home, weakly holding the blanket to her face.

"Wait." He blurted. She stopped, for a split second.

"You can't... see me." He said.

Emilynn twisted around as fast as she could manage, ignoring him and glaring at the dumpsters above her. There was no one. She dropped her blanket in frustration.

"W-where are you?" She cried, quickly grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around herself again as the cold air made her bones quake. She withheld the chattering of her teeth as best as she could.

"I just said you can't see me." He said, not seeming at all mad at her for obviously disobeying what had apparently been a request. Emilynn whirled around miserably, tangling herself in her blanket as she tried to locate where the voice was coming from.

"What?" She asked. "Why not?" She gave up on her attempt to find the mystery boy and grouchily looked down at her blanket that was now filthy from being rubbed on the ground so much. She held back a fit of coughs that was trying to crawl up her throat.

There was silence.

"Hello?" Emilynn whispered, despair filling her.

"I can't explain." He said.

The relief that washed over Emilynn was surprising. She was so sick of being alone.

"Okay." She whispered, not quite sure how he managed to hear her. "Okay." She didn't need to see him, she decided. She didnt need to know why he wouldn't let her. She just needed him to stay.

"You promise not to look?"

Emilynn nodded, then, realizing her mistake, whispered: "Yes."

There was a slight bang from the dumpster beside her, and she jumped.

"Well, uh... hi, I guess." He said, chuckling awkwardly.

"Who are you?" Emilynn asked. Her failure to play along seemed to upset him in some way, because his voice seemed deflated when he responded.

"My name's Mikey."

_Mikey_. Hadn't that been one of the people-

Suddenly it clicked in Emilynn's mind. She knew that the voice had seemed familiar to her. It had been the one from that dream.. or night... or whatever it had been. Mikey was the one who had been arguing to help her. The one that had whispered so close to her closed eyes. _Don't worry. I'll take care of you. _

"Uh, hello? Did you fall asleep or something down there?" Mikey's question interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh?" She murmered.

Mikey laughed, and it was such an unexpected, happy noise, it almost startled Emilynn. The sound of it brought a warm feeling to her frozen insides.

"What about you? Do you have a name?" He asked.

_No, _she almost said, surpised by the sudden sarcasm.

"Emilynn." She said instead.

"Emilynn," Mikey repeated. "of course."

_Of course? _

"What do you mean?" Emilynn asked.

And there was the laugh again. The happiness. "It just makes sense, you know? Pretty girl, pretty name."

Suddenly the image of the letter that she had found in the duffel bag a few days ago came to her mind, and she saw once again the writing on top of it: _To the pretty girl by the dumpsters. _

"You're the one who-" Emilynn murmured aloud, but was interrupted by an upbeat melody beginning to play from some place above her.

"Shell." She heard him murmer. "Um, one sec, Lynn, 'kay?" She thought he was leaving, and panic swelled in her chest.

"Dude. 'Sup?" He said, and it didn't take much for her to realize he wasn't talking to her.

The name he had called her, _Lynn_, played back in her head for some reason. As a young child, she had always opted for "Em," or even "Emmy" when she was exceptionally little. That's what her parents- the thought brought pain like a fresh cut across her chest- had called her.

But, now that she thought about it, she liked the sound of "Lynn" much better. It sounded older, more mature. Just like her. _Out with the old_, she thought, thinking of her young self with a shudder, _in with the new. _

"Oh, you know, out and about." Mikey answered an unheard question from above her in a nonchalant voice. He was silent, listening for an answer from his phone- or whatever it was he was talking through. Then he groaned. "Aw, Leo, come on!" He whined.

Emilynn shuddered. She had heard a Mikey say something very similar a couple nights ago. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

"_Fine_." Mikey said with a sigh. "You're really no fun."

Apparently the conversation was over.

"Lynn?" He said, using the nickname again.

"Huh?" She smacked herself mentally. She would never be able to talk to people properly. He didn't pretend to ignore how stupid he sounded, instead, he laughed in what could only be described as a grown guy's giggle.

"I have to go... but I- I got you this." There was some movement from above her, and suddenly something landed in front of her feet heavily. It was a dark blue, old looking backpack. She stared at it with surprise. _More? _

"And, try not to lose it this time, okay?" Emilynn flushed, but he just laughed. "I don't know what you did with all that other stuff, but it's not exactly easy to come by."

"Uh, I-i'm s-s" She began to stutter out an embarrasing apology, but he cut her off.

"It's cool, it's cool." He laughed loudly, and the sound of it once again made Emilynn feel so much better. "Just be careful, Lynn. Okay?"

"Okay." Emilynn managed to say. She was so stunned by him, she couldn't imagine how stupid she must sound to him. If he thought so, he didn't say so.

"Well, I'll see you 'round, Lynn." Despite the cheery sound of his voice, he seemed wistful.

"Wait." Emilynn blurted. "U-uh. Thanks." She said. She could feel her face turning bright red. It had been so long since she had actually had some sort of conversation with people she had almost forgotten how easily she blushed. She didn't forget how much she hated it, though.

"No problemo, dudette." He said. Then he laughed again, and the way it faded away with him told her he was gone.

With Mikey gone, the loneliness seeped back into Emilynn's being. She didn't know at what point she had grabbed her chest, clawing at it the way she did when she could bein to feel herself falling apart. Or at what point she had started crying. She buried herself in her blanket. She couldn't feel the cold anymore. Maybe tonight was just warm.

* * *

Emilynn woke up to a bright blue sky. Had she really slept that long? She looked up at the cloudless sky. The sun hurt her eyes, so she squinted and looked away. What time was it? It hadn't been late when she had fell asleep. Emilynn shook her head. She couldn't believe that she had actually lasted through the entire night.

Her eyes landed on the dark blue bag that still sat at her feet. She grabbed it quickly, remembering the way the last one had been stolen. She wouldn't let that happen again. Hesitantly, she unzipped the large pocket.

Just like last time, there was an envelope on top. The outside was blank. This time, instead of ignoring it until last, she opened it first.

On it was an address. And a time.

_Meet me tomorrow. _

Emilynn licked her lips nervously.

Well, it seemed like she actually had something to do today.

* * *

**Hi, guys. It's me. I'm back. Half a year later, sure. But I told you I wouldn't give up on you, right? I don't have much to say really, but I've been trying to get back into writing and I figured this story was as good as any to try to get back on track with. I'm so sorry for making you wait so long :c I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as I really did try to get back into it. Please review, I'm dying to know what you guys think of itttt. Reading reviews on my stories really one of my favorite things. I just really enjoy knowing what you guys are thinkingg. Thanks everyone so so much for reading and if you actually waited this whole time for me to post again you are seriously the greatest. Wale, I'll be back soon, hopefully. Byee~**


	5. Chapter 5

After performing her newest morning routine in the bathroom of a small convenience store a block or two down, Emilynn walked into the bustling New York sidewalks. She tried to get her bearings from within the huge crowd that continuously shoved her small figure to and fro. Finally she found a sign. Genesee street. It sounded familiar. After spending her whole life in the city, it was almost sad how lost she still managed to get in it. Scratch that. It _was _sad.

_Directions would have been helpful_. She thought to herself as she trudged in the direction she thought was right. She munched gratefully on the cheese danish she had bought for herself in the store, using new money given to her by the mystery boy.

_By Mikey, _she thought to herself. He wasn't just a mystery anymore. At least, his name wasn't. The rest of him was, so the name still fit. But Mikey sounded better.

Her wet hair began forming small icicles in the cold air. She crunched one between her fingers, before remembering that this bag of supplies had included a hat. She stopped to pull her backpack off, and some guy ran into her from behind.

"You can't just stop in the middle of the sidewalk, _moron_." He spat as he walked around her.

"S-sorry." She muttered, even though he was already out of hearing distance and he most definitely did not deserve an apology anyways. She moved to the side of the crowd, crouching in front of a store window. She yanked the hat from the bottom of the backpack, and her wad of money fell out with it. It fluttered to the ground. She gasped and snatched it from the ground, eyeing the crowd warily. She shoved it into her pant pocket.

"You shouldn't carry money around like that."

Emilynn jumped. She turned to see a woman sitting on a lawn chair outside of the store's entrance. Smoke from her cigarette wisped out of her mouth as she talked. The woman shook her head and her long dangly earrings shook with it.

"In a city like this, anyway." She tilted her cigarette-bearing hand at the huge mob of people rushing by them. "There's thieves. Pick-pockets."

Emilynn couldn't think of anything to say. The woman didn't seem to mind.

"Don't feel bad. All new people make the same mistake. Thing is, most of them have to learn the hard way."

Yeah, _new_. Emilynn thought. _New to the concept of owning money._

"Uh, thanks." She said. "Good to know." She took her money from her pocket and shoved it into the envelope that held the note. Then she shoved the envelope to the bottom of her backpack, beneath her clothes.

The woman nodded, seeming satisfied. "Better." She said.

Emilynn didn't know if she was supposed to respond to this, so she just smiled and nodded once at the woman before quickly turning and shoving herself back in the crowd. She crammed her hair into her hat as she walked.

Eventually she came to the street indicated in her newest note. She watched the building numbers.

_55... 56... 57... 58..._

Emilynn stopped and looked at the numbers again.

_56\. 57. 58._

She frowned and looked down at the address given to her.

_57 ½ Martin st. _

_Where is 57 ½?_

She walked over to the separation of 57 and 58. A paper fluttering in the wind attached to the side of 57 caught her attention.

_57 ½. _

There was an arrow on it, point to the narrow crack between the buildings. She could barely see any more than a couple feet into it, on the sunniest day of the season.

_This has got to be the shadiest thing I have been dragged into. _

Nonetheless, she quickly slipped into the dark crack. She walked forward slowly, hardly being able to see anything. Her foot hit something, and sank into it. She shrieked and jumped backwards. She shook her head and moved forward again, questioning her motives.

"Lynn." Someone whispered behind her. The person was so close that she felt their breath on her neck. Her frightened cry was cut short as a large hand fell over her mouth. "Shh! It's me. It's Mikey."

Emilynn nodded, and the hand left her mouth. "Why did you bring me here?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk. Face to face."

Lynn turned around to see a dark figure hulking over her. "I can't see you." She breathed.

"Exactamundo."

She looked upwards at the dark form's head. "You're so big." She said. It was almost scary. Added to the dark alley, it was not the most welcoming image.

Mikey laughed. "Actually. _You're _so small. What are you? Five foot? Not even, maybe?

Emilynn thought about it. She couldn't recall the last time she had been measured. It had to be five years ago, at least.

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"Hmm." Mikey's form shifted. "I'd say about five even."

"O-okay." Emilynn said, not being able to think of any other response.

"You're kind of shy, aren't you?" Mikey asked.

"W-well, I barely know you." Emilynn responded.

Mikey's form shifted again. "I guess that's true." He said. "Let's get to know each other, then. Ask me anything."

"Can we go somewhere else?" Emilynn blurted. Her face flushed at her sudden brashness. She looked down, despite the fact that it was much too dark for him to see.

Mikey's form moved back in what seemed like mock offense. "What, don't like my creepy dark alleyway?"

"Not really." She admitted.

"In that case, M'lady," He said, developing a fancy accent, "Your wish, is my command." He moved in a way that Emilynn guessed was a bow. "On one exception."

"What is it?"

"You have to wear a blindfold."

_And it gets more and more creepy_.

Stupid as she knew it was, Emilynn trusted Mikey. "Fine." She agreed.

Mikey seemed happy with her response. "Okay. Hold your face still."

She did as she was told, and after a second she felt a soft cloth over her eyes. She didn't bother to question the fact that he had a blindfold on hand. He never seemed to be done surprising her.

"Can you turn around?" Mikey asked. Emilynn nodded and turned her back to him. He tied the blindfold behind her head, under her hat full of hair.

"You can see that?" Emilynn asked.

"Uh, yeah. Good eyes."

Emilynn tried to think back and remember if she had been making a stupid face this whole time she had thought she was invisible. She settled on yes. Her face flushed.

"Done." Mikey said. Emilynn turned around, careful to behave her facial expressions.

"Okay. Now promise me you won't peek." He insisted.

"I promise."

"Swear?"

"Swear."

"Swear on your life?"

Emilynn shook her head, smiling. "On my life." She said.

"On your mother's life?"

Emilynn's smile fell. "My mother is dead." She said quietly. She ignored the flashbacks shoving themselves into her thoughts.

"Oh. I'm sorry Lynn." Mikey said softly. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine." She said, feigning confidence.

"If it makes you feel any better, I never had a mom." He said.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said.

"It's whatever." He said nonchalantly. She felt the shrug in his words. "You ready to go?" He asked.

She nodded, knowing now that he could see.

"Oh, and there is kinda one more thing." He said.

"What?"

"You can't make any noise until I say so."

_He's about to abduct me. _

Emilynn couldn't believe what she was getting herself into.

_What _am _I getting myself into?_

"Uh, Mikey?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you just promise you're not planning on murdering me or something?"

He laughed. "You got me there."

Emilynn made a face into the darkness. He laughed again.

"Okay, jeez, fine. Don't act so scary."

"Promise."

"I, Michelangelo, solemnly swear on my nonexistent mother's life, that I will not kill you."

Emilynn's brow furrowed. "Michelangelo?" She asked. He made a nervous sounding noise.

"Oops. I spilled the beans. Yeah, that's me."

"That's the weirdest name I've heard in the past couple hundreds of years."

He scoffed. "Well thanks. I'll just take back that whole 'not gonna kill you' thing now."

She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted as huge hands suddenly grabbed her around her waist, lifting her up and pressing her against something hard that she could not see to know what it was. She cried out, but Mikey shushed her.

"No noise, remember?"

She shut her mouth, swallowing hard. So she was being carried, then.

She scolded herself over and over again in her head. This entire situation went against everything every child is taught from the moment they can understand even the slightest bit of english. But here she was, blindfolded and trusting a strange boy that she was just now talking to for the second time in her life. She wasn't even walking on her own two feet. She didn't even know what on earth she was being held against. It felt almost like a soft plank of wood was strapped to his chest. The top was rounded off, and this she clung to for her life as she was roughly shaken around in his arms.

She was embarrassed by the way he was holding her. His large hands were able to wrap almost entirely around her small body. She had always hated when people tried to touch her, and now the way she was being held so close made her uncomfortable. She tried to shift herself as they were in motion, but that only made him grip her tighter and made her feel even more awkward. She wished he would have just let her walk on her own.

Though she was embarrassed by it, she did had to admit to herself that after all these long years of basically no physical contact with anyone, it felt kind of nice, in a way. Still, she would have preferred to walk.

After what seemed like only a couple of minutes, Mikey slowed down. Without the air blowing in her face, Emilynn noticed that it was suddenly much warmer.

"Okay," He whispered in a voice so low that Emilynn almost didn't hear it, "Don't. Make. A sound."

Although those had been the instructions for this entire trip, Emilynn understood that suddenly they were more important. She nodded, clinging to whatever it was she was being pressed against more tightly. Mikey sucked in a breath with a small, almost whimper-like noise.

"Hey. Go easy on that, will you?" He murmured. Emilynn immediately unclenched her fingers, her face heating up. She hadn't realized that whatever it was that she was holding had been important. She hoped she hadn't damaged it. She had been holding onto it so tightly that her fingers hurt. She figured with her luck whatever it was had to be ruined now.

"Okay, now, _shh_." He said. She did as he said, trying even to breathe as quietly as possible. She felt him start to move again, this time much slower. Despite the sudden decrease in speed, his hold on her tightened further. She bit her lip, not wanting to make any protestant noises. He continued to slowly move, until suddenly Emilynn heard what sounded like a door opening and closing.

"Mikey?" Someone called.

Mikey made a noise that could only be described as a mixture of a yelp and a gasp, and suddenly they were flying again.

"Mikey!" The second person yelled, his voice noticeably farther away now. "Get back here! I know you're home!"

"Code red code red code _red_." Mikey said in a panicked whisper. Emilynn found herself clinging to the plank-like object again.

"It's cool, we're cool. Mikester's got it under control." Mikey whispered quickly. Emilynn couldn't tell whether he was saying it to himself or to her. She couldn't tell much of what was happening at all at this point. Another door opened, this time right by her, and then suddenly she was not in Mikey's arms anymore. Her body landed hard on something soft, knocking all of the breath out of her with a loud gasp. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, unsure if her silence still mattered.

"Lynn, stay here for a sec, 'kay?" Mikey said quickly, his voice coming from somewhere in front of her. Before she could make any kind of response, she heard the door close again. She waited, not getting up from where she lay. Then, after a long moment of silence, she slid her hand off of her mouth and took a deep breath. She sat up, feeling around her.

It was a bed. It had to be. She confirmed this as her hands found what had to be a pillow laying next to her. She didn't dare to take off her blindfold now, despite the fact that she was obviously alone. She felt like it would be wrong. And, somehow, she felt like Mikey would know. So she waited in darkness.

After she could breathe normally, she could make out slight voices from somewhere outside of whatever room she was in. She couldn't tell what they were saying, but she thought that one of them sounded like Mikey. She hoped it wasn't bad. Eventually, the conversation seemed to turn into a one-sided lecture, before ending entirely. And then the door opened again. Emilynn jumped with fright.

"It's me, It's me." Mikey's voice said. She calmed herself down again. "Sorry." He said, with a small laugh. "Dude's crazy." The door closed again.

"Who is he?" Emilynn asked.

"My brother." Mikey said. The far side of the bed suddenly sunk as Mikey sat down. He watched Emilynn carefully. "You know, you've got a lot of guts. Trusting me with all this stuff."

Emilynn shrugged with a small sigh. "Guts are pretty much all I have to lose, at this point."

Mikey seemed to find that funny. The bed shook as he laughed, making Emilynn rise and fall slightly with the ripple of the mattress. She couldn't help but smile. His laughter was so contagious, somehow.

The bed rocked again, and suddenly there was a tug from behind her. "And this." Mikey's voice said, surprisingly close to her face.

Emilynn had completely forgotten about the backpack she still had strapped to her. She frowned with confusion. That bag had seemed so bulky earlier, and now she didn't even notice it was there. She hadn't even felt it as she was being carried.

"Right." She said, perplexed.

"You can take that off now, you know." Mikey said, his voice had moved away again.

"Oh. Right." Emilynn said, again. She could feel her face heat up as she realized how stupid she sounded. He realized it too, apparently, because he laughed again. She shrugged out of the bag and set it to her side. There was a 'thump' as it rolled off of the bed. Apparently she had been closer to the edge than she had thought. "Oops." She mumbled, embarrassed. Mikey didn't seem to mind.

"So we're here." He said.

"Is this your house?" Emilynn asked. It was awkward for her to talk to him with the blindfold on. She tried to face the direction she thought he was in, but she knew she looked like an idiot anyways.

"Yeah," He said, "I didn't know any other place to take you." He sounded slightly sheepish. "That wasn't freezing." He added. Emilynn nodded. She was glad to be out of the cold for once. Thinking about it made an involuntary shiver run through her body. Something about it made Mikey smile, but he didn't mention it to her. "We gotta stay on the down-low, though. My brothers are here, and they'd kind of kill me if they knew you were here."

"Not so fond of girls?" Emilynn asked.

"I think they just hate everyone." Mikey laughed.

"What _is _it with you guys?" Emilynn asked. "I mean, like, why so... secretive?" She recalled the first night she had been here. She told herself now that it couldn't possibly have been just a dream. The people who Mikey had been arguing with, his brothers, she now guessed, had been so eager to get rid of her. They acted like she was some sort of disease.

Mikey paused. "Well, uh..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say. "I... can't really explain." He finally said, giving up. He couldn't find it in him to lie to her, anyways. She was obviously disappointed in his lack of explanation, but she seemed to shake it off.

"It's okay." She said. "We all have our secrets." Then she laughed at herself. "I mean, I guess some are a little bigger than others." She gestured at her blindfold. Mikey grinned.

"What's _your_ secret, Lynn?" He asked. She scoffed.

"Don't you know the rules of having a secret, Mikey?" Mikey smiled at her use of his name.

"I bet it's not as big as mine." He said, smirking evilly.

"I'd be willing to bet against that." Emilynn said after a moment, her expression copying his. Her chest throbbed thinking about just how big of a secret she did hold, but she kept the smile plastered on her face.

"Are you okay?" Mikey asked. The question surprised Emilynn. Apparently she wasn't that great of an actress.

"Yeah, why?" She asked, keeping up her act anyways. Mikey shrugged and the movement caused another ripple in the bed. He could tell she didn't want to talk about it.

"I bet you're like Batman." He said suddenly.

"What?" Emilynn asked.

"You know. Deep dark secret. Angst." Emilynn's breath caught slightly, but suddenly his words took a lighter path. "I bet you're actually rich. A billionaire. This whole thing you got going on is all an act." He laughed at himself. "There's probably a tunnel under that dumpster of yours that leads to your secret lair."

Emilynn cringed at his blatant statement, "that dumpster of yours." She never really looked at herself from an outsider's perspective, but she really was just a homeless girl living by a dumpster. Real classy. Mikey was still rambling away, seemingly lost in his own head.

"...and at night you crawl down there and snap on some fancy spandex suit and fight villains and save cats from trees."

This time they both laughed. "I would pay good money to see that." He said.

"I think I would, too." She agreed. The image of her stick figure in a spandex suit repulsed her, but she played along. "What about you?" She asked.

"Huh?" Mikey said.

"Do you ever sneak out into the night and beat up bad guys?"

A loud snort of a laugh came from his side of the bed. "Oh, you have _no _idea."

They laughed in unison. Emilynn hadn't felt this good in a long, long time. She'd forgotten how nice it was to have someone to talk to. Especially someone as entertaining as this Michelangelo character.

"What's with the name, anyway?" She asked suddenly, being reminded of it.

"My name?" Mikey asked.

"Well duh." Emilynn said.

"I don't know." Mikey laughed. "Dad's an artsy fartsy dude I guess. Went and name all of his kids after famous artists."

"_All _of them?" Emilynn asked. Mikey nodded, knowing full well that she couldn't see him.

"There's four of us guys."

Emilynn made an over-the-top sound of disgust. "A house full of boys?"

Mikey laughed. "Yep."

Emilynn put her nose between her fingers and tilted her head away, waving her other hand in front of her face as though she had smelt something terrible. "Blegh." Was her response. Mikey just laughed more, and eventually Emilynn had to laugh along. There was just something about the way Mikey laughed. You couldn't just witness it. You had to join in.

"Ah," Mikey said, still laughing slightly. "You know, you're actually pretty cool."

Emilynn stopped laughing, surprised. "I am?" She asked.

"Yeah." Mikey said slowly. There was a moment of silence, then, "I like you, Lynn."

She swallowed hard. Such simple, kind words suddenly made her want to cry. But she held it back.

"I like you too, Mikey."


	6. Chapter 6

"So what's your story?" Mikey asked, after a while of pointless talking back and forth between the two of them.

Emilynn stopped short. "Uh," She said slowly, "Y-you first."

"Hmm." Mikey said. "My story." He took a while to consider. "Well, I don't know. There's not much to say, really. Just us guys. Doing guy stuff. Pretty lame." He cleared his throat.

"Oh, come on." Emilynn whined. "There has to be something."

"Nope. Nothing but lame, lame, and _lame_." The bed surged as Mikey flopped over with a huge breath. "Your turn."

Emilynn's tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth. "Sorry, buddy. My story's too lame to tell you."

There was a childish whine from Mikey's side of the bed. "Hey, no fair!" He cried.

"It is too fair!" Emilynn replied.

"Is not!"

"I'm not telling you mine unless I can hear yours." Emilynn said firmly, crossing her arms.

Mikey groaned loudly. Emilynn just shook her head, which Mikey responded to by groaning even louder.

"Do you need a sippy cup for all of that whine?" Emilynn asked.

"Wine's not good for children." Mikey stated.

"Then cut it out."

"Never!" He shouted.

"_Mikey_." Emilynn scolded, laughing.

"I'm a _man_." Mikey said.

"I can tell."

Mikey's only response was more whining noises, louder than before.

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door."Mikey, what the hell is going on in there?!"

"Oop." Emilynn squeaked, covering her mouth instinctively.

"Uh, nothing." Mikey said sheepishly.

"Are you talking to yourself?"

"...No."

The door rattled. "Mikey, why is this locked?!" His brother said.

"I'm... working on Christmas presents." Mikey said quickly.

"Christmas was last month, Mike."

"Next year's Christmas!" Mikey said. "It's gonna be _huge_."

The person behind the door sighed. "My little brother's a loony." He muttered to himself.

"Trust me, Raph!" Mikey called. "_Huge!_"

"Yeah, yeah." Raph muttered. His voice faded quickly. Once it seemed the cost was clear, Emilynn burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Mikey asked.

"_Christmas presents_?" Emilynn gasped, before cracking up again.

"I was put on the spot, alright?" Mikey griped. Emilynn snorted, and Mikey scoffed. "Like you could have done any better." Emilynn ignored him, falling over onto the bed with laughter. The slope of the bed caused by the difference in the weight of the two of them resulted in her suddenly slipping down the bed and bumping into something warm. She yelped, jumping up and scrambling back to her spot on the mattress. Then suddenly with a crash, she toppled off of the bed entirely.

She lay on the floor in a daze. _Blindfolds._

"Woah, Dudette, are you alright down there?" She heard the bed move again, and then it was Mikey's turn to burst out laughing. Immediately, Emilynn could feel her face starting to burn. She tried to right herself. It proved difficult to do while she was unable to see anything.

"I got you, I got you." Mikey said, still laughing. Then his large hands were on her wrists, wrapping completely around them with ease. He lifted her back onto the bed. "Did I scare you?" Mikey asked her. "Was it because I smell bad?"

"N-n.." Emilynn was too embarrassed to reply. Her face felt like it was on fire.

"Did you hit your head or something?" He asked. She felt a soft touch on the top of her head. She realized that her hat seemed to have fallen off of her during her tumble. Her hair was slowly falling around her face. She could only imagine the mess it must be. "Oh no." Mikey gasped silently. He rubbed the top of her head lightly. "It's definitely broken. I broke you." His hand left her head. "Okay. I need you to tell me your name. Got that? _Your. Name._"

"_Mikey_." Emilynn muttered. Mikey gasped dramatically.

"This is worse than I thought." He said. "We have to get you to the hospital." The bed rocked as he moved. Then he wailed. "What if you're dying?!" He cried. "Don't die on me, Lynn!" He shouted.

"_Mikey! Shh!" _Emilynn scolded. "I'm fine, jeez."

Mikey took a deep breath. "Oh thank goodness." Then, "Are you sure?"

Emilynn nodded. "Yes, Mikey."

"No death?"

"Nope."

"No broken bones?"

Emilynn squeezed her arms, then her legs. "Nope."

"Bruises? Scrapes?"

"Mikey, I said I'm_ fine_." Emilynn laughed.

"Whew." Mikey breathed. "That's a relief." Then he started laughing again.

"What is it?" Emilynn asked.

"I'm just remembering your face." He said. "When you were on the floor." He laughed harder. Emilynn groaned and flopped over onto the bed, covering her face with her hands. She was sure this time not to let herself roll.

"Aw, come on, Lynn." He said. "It was funny."

She shook her head.

"Awe, someone's embarrassed." Mikey cooed. Emilynn groaned again, curling into a ball. "You know, it's kinda super cute when you do that." Mikey said. Emilynn's face burned. He laughed. "Yes. That whole face thing. You're like a tomato." He paused before adding: "An adorable tomato."

Emilynn said nothing. She hid her face further in her own arms.

"Lynn?"

She didn't reply.

"Oh, I see. The silent treatment." Emilynn turned her face further into the bed. "Fine," Mikey said with a small laugh. "Be that way."

There was a long silence.

"Hey, Lynn?" Mikey finally said. She didn't reply. "I'm sorry I called you an adorable tomato."

When she still said nothing, he groaned. "Come on, Lynn, talk to me. I can hear myself think. And like, I'm super annoying. It sucks." She felt a soft touch on her shoulder. She shook her head from behind her arms. "Please?" Mikey asked. "_Pretty _please?" She shook her head again. "I'll do anything."

"Anything?" Emilynn mumbled.

"Scout's honor." Mikey swore.

Emilynn uncurled her body and sat up.

"Let me see you." She said.

"Ah." Mikey breathed. "Can't do that."

"Hey, you _swore_." Emilynn cried.

"Did not."

"What about scout's honor?!"

"My fingers were crossed."

"No fair!"

"Is too! I kept 'em crossed, so it doesn't count. That's the rules."

"I'm taking the blindfold off."

"Lynn, don't-"

Emilynn tore off the blindfold. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she gasped.

"Where'd you go?!" She demanded.

The bed she sat on was a dull orange color, much like the blanket she was given back in her "home." The two pillows were a similarly dull orange and a tattered looking gray. The floor all around the bed was littered with all sorts of wrappers and bottles from various different random snack foods and drinks. Only some of them were empty. There had to be at least five pizza boxes laying around. At the foot of the bed sat a stuffed panda bear. But Mikey was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay. You got me. The secret's out. I'm... invisible." Mikey's voice said from right beside her ear. She twirled around, but there was no one there. Behind his bed was a collage of posters.

"How are you...?" Emilynn muttered. She quickly looked back around the room. Empty.

"Can you put the blindfold back on now?" Mikey's voice asked, this time from above her. She looked up, but all she saw was a series of large pipes running in every direction across the ceiling.

_Someone needs a better plumber_.

"Oh, I get it." Emilynn said. "I'm just insane." She fell backwards onto the bed with a sigh. She felt strange in someone else's bed, but, having none of her own, it felt unbelievably nice to be in a bed at all. She couldn't help but close her eyes.

Mikey laughed from somewhere to her side. "Tired, much?" He asked. "You are aware that it's about noon, right?"

"You try sleeping on concrete for five years straight." Emilynn muttered, not even bothering to open her eyes. "The snow doesn't help much, either." She added with a yawn.

Mikey made a noise that Emilynn couldn't really put a meaning to. "I bet that sucks." He said. Emilynn was surprised by how forlorn he sounded. She nodded slowly, suddenly exhausted.

"Mhm." She mumbled. She rolled over onto her side with a content sigh, clutching a spare pillow to her chest out of old habit. She didn't even mind that they weren't hers anymore.

"Hey, Lynn?" Mikey asked, softly.

"Hm?"

"Sweet dreams."

_What is that supposed to mean? _Emilynn thought hazily.

* * *

A truck horn blasted Emilynn's eardrums and she rocketed upwards with a shriek. Her eyes flung open, and met concrete. Her head swam.

"Wha...?" She looked around only to all too soon recognize the familiar alleyway that she resented calling home. Her heart sank. It was almost as though the whole adventure with Mikey had never happened. _Had it? _

She looked around once again. Her backpack was tucked beside her in the same place she had always kept it. She was wrapped tightly in the same worn blanket she had fallen asleep in the day before. The sky was still bright, but not as. It had to be around six. In these short winter days it was about time for the sun to start heading down. A cold wind blew by, raising goose bumps on her arms. She looked down, to see that they were wrapped tightly around a gray pillow. She gasped, holding it up. As she did so, a small paper fell out from the pillowcase. She picked it up, to see the crazy handwriting that she was getting so used to.

_You snore in your sleep. It's super funny._

Emilynn stared at the note._ I snore? _She felt a blush creeping onto her face at the thought of Mikey seeing her while she slept. She could only imagine how horrible it must have been. She was even more embarrassed at the thought that she had fallen asleep in the first place. In _his _bed. _What was I doing?_

Her embarrassed stream of thoughts were interrupted as her stomach suddenly rumbled, causing her to realize how hungry she was. She sighed, before she remembered that she actually had money for once, thanks to Mikey. She squirmed out of her slightly damp blanket and crawled out of her makeshift home. She turned back and bundled her blanket into the smallest ball she could manage and shoved it into a corner, making it invisible from the streets. She grabbed her bag and headed with it towards the street, not daring the risk of leaving it alone.

The street was surprisingly empty, but she couldn't put a name on why. At this time, usually these streets were roaring with activity. With a pizza shop on one side and an arcade on the other, the mouth to Emilynn's alley was usually swamped with people going in and out of both places by now. She didn't let it faze her. She walked into the pizza place, only stopping for a brief bathroom break. Afterwards she walked to the guy standing at the counter. He gave her a once-over with his eyes, but seemed uninterested any farther than that.

"What can I get you?" He asked. He sounded bored.

"Two slices." Emilynn said, pointing at the nearest pizza. Cheese. "Please." She added. He nodded and grabbed a plate, sliding them onto it. Emilynn pushed a five at him. "Keep the change." She told him.

He pushed forward the plate and took the five. "Hey, thanks." He mumbled. Emilynn gave him the friendliest smile she could manage as she took her food.

"You too." She said. He just nodded, putting the money in the register then turning and heading into the kitchen as she walked to a table. She sat in the same booth that she had last time. Right as she slid into it, the bell on the door chimed. She looked up to see the same two teenagers that had been at the pizza place the last time she was there. April and Kasey, if she recalled correctly.

"Looks like there is people alive tonight, after all." April said to Kasey upon seeing Emilynn. Apparently they too noticed the 'deadness' around them as well. As his eyes met Emilynn, a huge grin spread across Kasey's face.

"Hey, it's Shorty!" He called, waving at her like a loon. She waved back at him with an awkward smile.

"Kasey, would you leave the poor girl alone?" April said, rolling her eyes. She made a face at Emilynn that read somewhere between the lines of 'sorry about him' and 'kill me now.' Emilynn laughed, giving her an understanding nod.

"What?" Kasey said, sound offended. "She's my buddy." To prove his point, he marched over and slid into the booth seat across from her. April just groaned, before looking at Emilynn.

"Can you handle him?" She asked, pointing at Kasey. Emilynn looked at the boy in question, who leaned back into the seat with a wide grin upon being mentioned.

"I think so." She said, with a nod. April flashed a quick thumbs up before heading to the counter. Kasey leaned in close to Emilynn, keeping a close watch on April while doing so.

"Hey. Between you and me," He whispered, never meeting her eyes, "what's your name again?"

Emilynn couldn't help but roll her eyes as well. Suddenly she was attracting all of the goons. Kasey risked a quick look at Emilynn's face, raising his eyebrows.

"Lynn." She whispered back, deciding to play along. She opted for Mikey's name for her, as it was her new favorite.

"Ah, gotcha." Kasey whispered. He then sat back once again, laying his arms on the back of the booth to either side of him. "Lynn!" He called out, seemingly addressing the ceiling. "My _great_ pal, Lynn." He watched April again, frowning to himself when she ignored him. He looked back at Emilynn.

"Actually, I think I prefer calling you Tiny." He said.

"I thought it was Shorty?" Emilynn asked, raising an eyebrow. He stuck his bottom lip out, looking at her pointedly.

"I'm pretty sure it's both, in your case." He said. Emilynn laughed, but instinctively angled her body inward into a less noticeable pose. Kasey stretched his legs out with a grunt. They kicked Emilynn's.

"Oh, sorry." He said, drawing them back a bit. "I seem to have a habit of banging into you."

Emilynn laughed, less awkwardly now. "It's okay, it happens a lot."

"Really?" Kasey asked, leaning toward her again. "How so?"

Emilynn shrugged. "Walking alone in huge crowds... people usually don't even notice I'm there. I get run into a lot."

Kasey took a moment to visualize her words, sticking a thumbnail in his mouth. Slowly, a grin spread across his face. "You're like a pinball." He laughed at himself. Apparently he was enjoying the image going through his head.

April returned then, with a box of pizza. She slid in next to Kasey.

"Just one?" Emilynn asked, nodding at the box.

"Mhm." April said. "Just us today. The guys are taking on a new dare: No pizza for a week."

The way she said 'the guys' reminded Emilynn of Mikey and his house of brothers. She wondered if they liked pizza. She guessed yes. It was pizza, after all.

Kasey laughed. "They can't do it."

"Probably not." April agreed. "But you know how competitive some of them can get."

"_Some of them." _Kasey said, making quotations in the air with his fingers. April gave him a non-serious glare. Kasey bared his teeth -or the giant hole in them- at April in response.

Then the two of them seemed to remember Emilynn was sitting there. They both turned face to face her, stopping their competition of faces. April cleared her throat.

"So I talked to the guy up there." April said, changing the subject. "I asked him why the place was so deserted today. He said that this whole street is blocked off on both ends."

"You didn't notice that coming in?" Emilynn asked. A short laughed escaped Kasey.

"Oh, we didn't come from the streets." He said. "Ah!" He hissed with a small jump. Emilynn could not see what the cause of his pain was, but she did notice the glare that April was giving him, completely serious this time. April then turned to Emilynn with a wide smile, as though nothing had happened.

"We've been staying with someone who lives on this street." She explained. Emilynn nodded slowly, confused by the sudden behavior swings.

"Wonder why they kept the pizza place open, then." Kasey said, watching April again. April frowned.

"That's a good point, actually." She said, seeming perplexed. Then her eyes went wide. She looked at Kasey, then back at Emilynn. "We need to go." She said suddenly. She stood up fast, knocking into the table. It shook wildly. She didn't seem to notice. She grabbed Kasey's arm, tugging him from his seat.

"What?" Kasey cried. "What is it?"

"Something's wrong." April said. She gave Kasey an urgent look, tapping a finger against her head. Kasey got out of the booth quickly, then looked back at Emilynn.

"What about Tiny?" He asked.

"Leave her!" April said, hurrying to the door.

"We can't!" Kasey said. April stopped momentarily and looked back at the two of them, seeming to realize Kasey's point. She sighed, obviously frustrated.

"You're right. Bring her. But _hurry._" She ran out the door without waiting for either of them. Emilynn had gotten out of the booth by now, and Kasey grabbed her sleeve, pulling her after him.

"What's happening?" She asked.

"No time to explain." Kasey said. "Just trust us."

Out of instinct, Emilynn didn't. But she wasn't given any opportunities to argue. Kasey dragged her out of the restaurant without even waiting for a response. They barged through the doors into the street, which was now dark. April was gone.

"April!" Kasey yelled. There was no response. "_Damn._" He whispered. He grabbed Emilynn again. "Come on." He said, taking off running. Emilynn stumbled after him, struggling to keep up. At the end of the street, a huge truck was parked in the middle of the road, blocking all of the cars. There was a small mob of angry people surrounding it. Apparently the road block hadn't really been agreed upon by the civilians of New York. Emilynn heard someone claim they were calling the police.

Suddenly a group of black-clad people spilled out of the back of the truck. There was a collective gasp from the mob. When the group in black turned around, Emilynn saw why. Each was holding a very dangerous looking weapon. Their black outfits were actually full suits. _Ninjas, _Emilynn's mind recognized.

A strangled gasp struggled to come out of Emilynn's throat. She stopped in her tracks. Kasey didn't seem to notice.

"Hey!" He shouted at them. "I know you took April! Give her back!" He stepped towards them. For the first time Emilynn realized he had a small bag on his back, full of what look like an arrangement of sports tools. From this, Kasey drew a heavy looking golf club as he started towards the ninja men. They turned to him.

_Stop. _Emilynn thought._ There's too many. _As she thought this, more men seemed to materialize from nowhere, all drawing their weapons. They were closing in on Kasey. He seemed to realize he was outnumbered. He looked back at Emilynn, who was frozen solid. He yanked something from his pocket and threw it at her. It clattered to the ground.

"Call the first number on there!" He yelled. "Tell them I need help!" As he said this, the cloud of ninja men surrounded him, blocking her view of him. It seemed that the small mob of people had realized that something out of their league was happening, as they had all vanished.

Emilynn forced herself to move. She couldn't tell if she was breathing or not, but she somehow managed to grab the odd-shaped phone that Kasey had tossed her off of the ground. With shaking fingers, she managed to call the first number, as Kasey had instructed. It rang only once.

"Kasey, you should really call off that pizza dare thing. Mike's going totally wacko. And I mean, like, more than usual. The guy's been moaning all day and if he doesn't shut his trap soon I think I'm gonna pound him into the Earth's inner core."

Emilynn's head swam. She struggled for words.

"Kasey?" The person from the phone asked.

"Help." Emilynn choked out.

"Wait, who is this?" The phone shrilled. "What's going on?"

Emilynn's eyes flickered up to the dark group of fighters that she had thought she would never have to see again. Their name was still permanently etched to the back of her skull. She could feel her legs giving out beneath her.

"The Foot." She whispered. Then everything went black.

* * *

**Hey everyone. The Gracilynn is back. With another cliffhanger. Dun dun dun. There's been a lot of dialogue in these past few chapters, and I really hope that I've been capturing the character's personalities correctly. What do you think? Advice is always great. Reviews on pretty much anything make me so happy so please if you have the time and willpower feel free to leave one for me to make my day. Thank you all so so much for reading and supporting, as always. I've been able to talk to quite a few of you and you all seem like such great people, so that's really nice. Please stick around, because it does mean a lot. Well. More juicy stuff next chapter, I promise. Byee c:**


	7. Chapter 7

As the turtles steadily took down more and more of the Foot, the soldiers started backing away.

"Quick!" Leo shouted. "Someone get April!"

"Already handled it."

Everyone looked up to see April emerge from the back of the truck. She flashed her bladed fan at them with a grin.

"Hey, go April!" Mikey cheered, before turning and pursuing another soldier.

From somewhere in the mass of Foot someone ordered a retreat. All at once the men stopped fighting and ran off in all directions, some piling into the huge truck.

"Hey, I wasn't done with you yet!" Raph yelled after them. He groaned as the truck sped away, leaving them behind. "Wimps." He muttered after them.

Donnie went to April's side.

"You okay?" He asked her. She nodded.

"I'm fine." She said. Donnie put a hand on her shoulder.

Leo turned to Kasey. "You?" He asked him.

Kasey rubbed his head, wincing. "I'll be alright." He said. Then he dropped his hand, and looked around him. "Wait, where's Tiny?" He asked.

"Tiny?" Raph asked.

"Uh oh. They conked him a little too hard." Mikey said. Raph shoved Mikey's head without looking away from Kasey.

"The girl." Kasey said. "That Lynn chick."

Mikey swirled around to look at Kasey. "Lynn?" He asked. His brothers gave him a confused look.

"Yeah." Kasey said, looking around him. "I just call her Tiny because she's super small. Like, real short and skinny."

Mikey made a small noise that sounded closest to a gasp. He rushed over to Kasey. "Wait, what else does she look like?" He demanded. Kasey's eyebrows drew together, looking at Mikey. Mikey just stared at him, waiting eagerly.

"Uh, well, she's got this crazy long black hair... and blue eyes. But real light. She's super pretty, I guess." He said.

Mikey took a sudden step back as though Kasey had threatened to kill him. He turned around and looked at his brothers with wide eyes.

"Mikey...?" Raph began.

Mikey took off running. Everyone watched as he ran down the street, darting into a random alleyway.

"What is he...?" April trailed off. No one knew. Then Mikey came running back out of the alley, dashing up to Leonardo.

"Leo!" He cried. "She's not there. They took her. The Foot took her!"

Leo grabbed his little brother. "Mikey, what are you talking about?" He asked.

"Lynn!" Mikey cried. "She lives right there but she's not there and Kasey said she was here but she's not here and the Foot must've taken her!"

"Mikey, calm down." Leo said slowly. "She might have just run away or something."

"No, Leo! They took her, I know it. We gotta help her!"

"Mikey, what would the Foot have wanted with Lynn?" Leo asked. Mikey groaned, grabbing his head.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" He started walking in circles. Then he stopped, running over to a blue backpack that looked like it had been thrown to the side of the road. He picked it up, opening it and grabbing clothes from inside of it. The rest of them slowly walked towards him, watching him closely.

"Wait..." April said. "Isn't that stuff _mine_?"

Mikey looked up at her with huge eyes. He looked hysterical. "I gave them to her." He said.

"What?!" April demanded. She started to march towards Mikey. Donnie tried to hold her back, but she shook him off. Then Raphael stepped in her way.

"April, not now." Leo said shortly. April stopped, staring between the turtles. Then back at Mikey, her eyebrows raised.

"I gave this bag to her." Mikey said. "She wouldn't just leave it here. I know she wouldn't." He looked at his brothers desperately, his whole body seemed to crumble slightly.

"Okay, Mikey." Leo said. "We believe you."

"Then we need to go _now!_" Mikey said.

"Mikey, we don't know where they took her." Donnie said. "The TGRI building burnt down, remember? We have no clue where they are now."

Mikey's whole body seemed to deflate. It looked like he was going to fall over. Raph stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder.

"We'll find her." Raph promised.

"We need to find her right now." Mikey said.

"We can't, Mikey." Raph responded.

"Than when?" Mikey asked him sadly.

Raph rubbed the top of his brother's head. "As soon as we can."

"When will that be?"

Raph looked around at everyone. They too were lost.

"I don't know, Mikey." Raph said. Mikey sighed.

"How do we know if she's okay?"

"She's okay, Mikey." Leo said, stepping closer to his forlorn little brother. Mikey looked up at him, his blue eyes seeming wetter than usual.

"How do _you _know?" Mikey sniffed.

"I just do." Leo took Mikey's free shoulder and guided him down the street. "We'll go home now and figure it all out, okay? She'll be fine."

"Promise?" Mikey said.

"Promise."

* * *

Emilynn's eyes opened to complete darkness. At first she couldn't tell if she was still unconscious or not, until she realized that she was sitting on some sort of hard chair. She tried to move, but her hands were being restrained. Her ankles, too, she found out by squirming her legs.

"Wakey wakey, Princess." A gravely voice hissed from beside her right ear. She turned her head, but there was nothing but black. The strange voice chuckled darkly, then Emilynn felt a hard tap on the side of her face. "Blindfold, dearie."

"What do you-" Emilynn stopped, realizing that her words were only coming out as muffled noises. There was a gag in her mouth.

"Wanna talk?" The voice said. Then her head was yanked forward roughly. She cried out.

"Shh, shh. There's no use yellin' or screamin', hon. Room's soundproof. Whole building is, matter of fact."

Emilynn felt the gag being removed. Once it was off, she took a deep breath, only to choke it back out. The air was thick, and the taste was rancid.

"Ah, you'll get used to that. Take's a couple days, but you'll see." The stranger's sentences trailed of into whispers every time he was finished. It reminded her off a snake. He was circling her as he talked, it seemed, only adding to the effect. The word _greasy_ came to mind.

"What do you want from me?" Emilynn muttered. She managed to sound angry, though her whole body was trembling with fear.

"Oh, I think you know." The voice cooed. The man started stroking the top of her head, almost fondly. She wrenched it away from his hand. He seemed to ignore her violence, as she felt a strand of her hair then being tugged within a few seconds.

"Did you really think we'd forgotten about you?" He asked, before chuckling softly again. The way he laughed sounded like he was trying to clear rocks from his throat. "We're _so _lucky I was out tonight." He pulled sharply against the piece of hair he had been playing with. Emilynn winced. "We almost missed you." He said softly. She felt a lone finger stroke her cheek. She pulled away once again, with a low growl.

"Get away from me." She whispered harshly. He ignored her, continuing with his monologue.

"I almost didn't recognize ya." He said. "When I saw you pass out cold on the ground like that, I thought you were just some weak-hearted little girl." The laugh again. "But then the men brought you closer, like they always do, asking: '_what do we do with this one?'_ ...Because we'd only had orders to capture yer friend, you see. The cute lil' redhead. So of course, those idiots, they didn't know what to do with ya." He stopped for a moment.

"I was gonna say somethin' like: '_just leave 'er.'_" He coughed out a short bark of a laugh. "Because I thought you were just another girl, ya know?" Then he took a deep breath, and she felt his hand clasp over hers. She grunted, trying to squirm free.

"But I was wrong." He said in an almost sad way. "As soon as I saw your face, I knew." His hand left hers, only to stroke her cheek for the second time. She pulled away with a disgusted gasp.

"You've always had the face of an angel. Since the day you were born." Then he chuckled. Isn't that right, _Tenshi?_" He hissed. His hot breath blew across her face. She flinched away from him. The name seared hot pain all through her body. He laughed darkly.

"Oh, you don't like that name, do you?" He murmured, his breath fluttered across her mouth. She fought the urge to gag. "I bet you have a new one now." He said. "Come on, tell me what it is."

She didn't respond. The man growled, displeased. He grabbed her face suddenly, and his nails bit into her cheeks.

"_Ah_." She groaned.

"I said, _tell me what it is_." He said, his voice low. His nails dug further.

"_Lillian_." She lied, gasping with pain. His hand left her face.

"Good girl." He said. "You see. That wasn't that hard." He grabbed her face again, this time softly.

Now, remember. When I tell you to do something, you do it. Got it, Doll?"

Emilynn bit her lip, a frightened whimper escaping her. He grabbed her hair and yanked her head forward.

"_Got it?"_ He whispered menacingly, his voice directly beside her ear.

She nodded quickly. He released her.

"Where's Saki?" Emilynn whispered. The man clicked his tongue.

"Now, now. I ask the questions here." He said. "Here's one." He grabbed her arms tightly and she could feel the warmth from his face, just inches in front of hers. She didn't dare to move. "Where are the turtles, Tenshi?" His breath swamped her face and this time she did gag.

"_What_?" She gasped, dazed.

"You heard me." He muttered. "Now answer."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said desperately. His grip tightened on her arms. She bit down hard on her lip, trying not to cry out.

"You're lying to me." He growled.

"_No._" She moaned. "I have no clue what you're talking about! I _swear_." She cried.

"_Liar_." He held her arms so tightly now she was sure they were going to break. She opened her mouth, but no noise would come out. Tears bloomed in her eyes.

"You were with her. _April O'neil_."

"I just met her." Emilynn whispered weakly.

"You're the one that _called them_."

"What?" She whimpered.

"I saw the phone. Then when you fell, it broke." He made a disgusted sound. "But then they came. It's_ your _fault O'neil got away."

"I didn't-"

"I know you did it." He interrupted. "That girl and that boy, they're with the turtles. That's why we needed them. But, because of _you_, they're gone. Do you know what that means?"

He stopped, apparently awaiting some sort of response. She shook her head slightly.

"It means that you need to be punished. But, even better, since your friends got away, _you're _gonna tell us where the turtles are _for them._"

"I don't know." Emilynn choked. "I don't know about any turtles."

The man roared, shoving her chair backwards. She went flying, slamming her back into the wall behind her. Her head hit the wall like a rock, and for a split second her whole body was limp. She couldn't move. Tears streamed from under her blindfold at this point.

"What did I tell you about doing what I say?" He said, his voice disturbingly calm.

"I'm telling the truth!" Emilynn wailed. "I don't have any clue what you're talking about!"

"Stop-"

He stopped suddenly. There was no noise. Then there was a single set of loud footsteps. They slowly got louder and louder, until they stopped.

"Hiroto."

Emilynn's blood ran cold.

"Saki." She whispered in horror. There was a deep grunt.

"You don't have the right to call me by that name." The Shredder growled. She could hear his heavy footsteps approach her, then her blindfold was torn off. And there he was. The man she had been forced to talk to for most of this time stood behind him in what looked like a more high-tech version of the Foot Ninja's suits. Instead of a full face mask like the rest of them, his was only half. His eyes were black orbs like the rest of them, but his mouth was fully visible. His cracked lips were turned upward in a sickening smile, and his hands were clasped together tightly, just like any typical storybook wackjob. The whole room was dark, lit by a few candles only. They cast wavering shadows on the walls.

The Shredder reached toward her face, tilting her chin roughly upward toward him with the dull side of his bladed hands. With his one good eye and his nightmarish bad one, he stared hard at her face.

"So it really is you." He muttered, finally. She glared at him through her wet eyes.

"You killed my parents." She spat. The Shredder made a noise that sounded like a snort, dropping her face. Her chin fell to her chest.

"Not me, sadly. Just my men. Had it been me, you wouldn't have escaped." He sighed with agitation. "I regretted that decision for many years. But, here you are. At last. Tell me, where were you hiding?"

Emilynn didn't answer. Her whole body shook. Whether in fear or rage, no one knew. She kept her face lowered, being unable to look at him any longer. Unlike Hiroto, The Shredder did not seem to mind her silence.

"We checked every orphanage in the state, but I knew you couldn't leave this city. So which one was it? How did we miss you?"

Once again, Emilynn didn't answer. She was sobbing now, and hating herself for it. The Shredder saw that she wasn't going to respond, and gave up on her. He turned to Hiroto.

"Kill her." He said. "Then my job will finally be done."

"But, Master Shredder-"

"Don't question me, fool." Shredder said icily.

"She's with the turtles, Master." Hiroto said, before The Shredder could interject.

"_What_?" The Shredder hissed.

"She's the one that called them. That ruined our mission."

"Of course _she _would be the one to find them" The Shredder said darkly. He turned back to Emilynn. "Tell me where they are." He demanded.

"She refuses to say." Hiroto explained.

The Shredder looked Emilynn up and down once. "Torture, then. _Get_ her to say. Then, kill her."

"Yes, Master."

Emilynn watched as The Shredder left the room. Then Hiroto walked towards her, his walk containing the same slithery components as his voice. A sly smile spread across the exposed bottom half of his face, revealing a row of browned teeth, cracked and broken just lip his lips.

"So, Miss Tenshi." He whispered, squatting down in front of her. The black eyes of his mask stared at her lifelessly. She closed her eyes.

"We are going to have some fun."


	8. Chapter 8

Emilynn's stomach growled loudly. Again. She groaned. How long had it been since her last meal? The night she had been sitting in the pizza place with Kasey and April seemed so long ago. It had to have been days. She was starving. She had spent the last five years of her life starving, but this was worse. Even in her most desperate times she could manage to steal at least something from the trash. But now there was nothing. And how many days _had _it been? She couldn't tell. All she had known for what seemed like the last eternity was the dark walls of this room. The same room she had been put in since the beginning. The only difference is that the room was now lined with several tables, all of which were completely full of small weapons and tools, made for nothing else but to cause pain. On the table closest to her was the pile of dirty tools. They were the ones that were now red with her own blood.

They had began to turn a dark brown color. He, Hiroto, hadn't used any on her in a while. Maybe he had gotten bored. Maybe he was just trying a new kind of torture at this point. He had been gone for a long time. The last time he had came in he had forced her to drink, and she shamefully obliged.

"You can't die on me quite yet." He had whispered to her, before leaving. He still hadn't returned.

She remembered how much water had sloshed all over her tattered clothes. Freezing water that had left her chilled to the bone. She had longed so desperately for her old dirty blanket that Mikey had given her, then for Mikey himself. What did he think? Had he even noticed she was gone? Would he care?

Emilynn wasn't sure what Mikey's motives for visiting her and helping her had been in the first place. She couldn't be sure that he really liked her at all. Not enough to miss her, anyways. She almost wished that were true. The image of Mikey checking in on her every day just to find her gone each time hurt her chest.

The cold spots left by her messy drinking had completely disappeared by now. Her body, however, continued to shiver. It rocked the seat she sat on. She whimpered lightly. Her body was sore from sitting in a hard seat so long. She tried to wiggle into a more comfortable position, but it didn't work. She looked down at where her wrists were tied. The skin was chafing. It burned.

She winced at the skin below her wrists. Her sleeves had been rolled up to reveal pale skinny arms that were now covered in large gash marks and bruises and cracking splotches of dried blood. It reminded her of the one time she had hurt herself, when she was just nine years old. She could remember the desperation. The feeling was still strong inside of her. The need for release. She'd heard of other kids doing it. So, late one night, she snuck from her bed, past all of the other sleeping girls. For some reason she could still distinctly remember the way the freezing stone floor had felt on her toes, along with the way the girl in red braids had snorted in her sleep while Emilynn had slowly tip-toed past her. All of the memories were strangely vivid in her brain. Especially the blood.

Her hand must have slipped, or something. She remembered thinking, _there's too much blood. _Then the panic. The rush she was in to find something to press against her arm, to stop the bleeding. How hard it was to clean each drop of blood from the floor in the almost pitch black kitchen. And the despair she had felt crawling back into bed with a wet sticky towel wrapped around her arm, too tightly. She remembered the sadness exactly. And the anger. _It didn't work_. She had thought. _It didn't work. _

In the morning when she woke up, her entire arm was a mess with old blood. It made her sick.

She never tried it again after that.

Emilynn looked down at her arm. Just a few inches below her chafing wrists, she could just barely make out the shiny scar she had left herself. She was sure now there was going to be many more. She looked away from the gruesome sight.

She forced herself to take deep breaths. Her chest throbbed in the same way it always did. Inwardly. Like everything inside of her was being pulled into a black hole. Sucked away. Erased. And out of the black hole came the panic.

_Stop. _She said to herself. She had to keep her head. She couldn't give up. She had a promise to keep.

_Never give up. Never stop fighting. _

She tried to think of something else. But was else was there? _Mikey._ Her mind pushed. The only good memory she had that wouldn't completely shatter her. _Think about Mikey. _

So she did.

* * *

"Em, can I tell you something?"

"Sure, Daddy." Emilynn turned her head away from her finger painting to stare at the big man. He smiled kindly at her.

"Come here." He said, beckoning with his head. His hair waved slightly. She giggled at it, getting up from the floor.

"What's so funny?" Her father asked as she walked over to him. She pointed at his hair. He made a face, looking up comically in an attempt to see his own head. Emilynn just laughed more. He smiled at her. "I guess I _do _need a haircut." He said, taking a piece of his raven hair between his fingers and twisting it thoughtfully.

"No," She said. "I like it like that." Her father raised his dark eyebrows at her.

"Oh, yeah?" He asked, sounding surprised. Emilynn nodded.

"It's pretty." She said. He grinned, scooping her into his lap.

"Just like yours." He said. He pressed their foreheads together, and his hair fell into hers. Besides length, there was no difference. He pulled a piece of her hair softly and kissed her face, before moving away. Suddenly his face was troubled.

"What's wrong?" Emilynn asked. She put her hand against his face, and left a wet paint print. He didn't seem to notice. "Dad?" She asked, her small face puckering up with concern.

His eyes turned back to her, and he smiled again suddenly, taking her tiny paint-covered hand in his. "I have a secret to tell you." He whispered mischievously. Emilynn's face brightened immediately.

"What is it?" She said loudly, her small voice getting high with excitement. Her father put a finger to his lips.

"_Shh!_" He said. "Don't you know the rules of having a secret, Em?"

Her eyes widened, and she nodded her head rapidly. Her small mouth formed a surprised "o" shape.

"You can't tell anyone." He said. Emilynn's mouth widened further as she took an awed breath.

"Not even Mommy?" She asked. He tilted his head, making his hair wave again.

"Well, maybe Mommy." He said, looking back at her. "But just her." He winked, making her giggle.

"Because she's special." Emilynn said. Her dad grinned, squeezing her with his free hand.

"Yes." He agreed. "She's very special."

"Tell me the secret now, Daddy. _Please_." Emilynn urged. She bounced eagerly on his leg.

"Alright, alright, alright. Just promise you wont tell anyone." He said.

"Except Mommy."

"Anyone _except_ Mommy."

"I promise!" Emilynn shouted, before covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry." She whispered. Her dad laughed deeply, raising a hand and wiping pink paint off of her face.

"You're a mess, kid." He said kindly. She looked down at her wet hands.

"Sorry." She said again, folding her hands protectively into her lap.

"I don't mind." Her father said, taking her hands in his again. "The paint washes off. But the memories don't."

Emilynn grinned. "You're the smartest Dad I've ever had." She said.

"I know." He said, sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes. She laughed loudly, and he hugged her tightly. Once he pulled away he looked at her, serious again. "Okay. Secret now. Serious business."

Emilynn closed her mouth tightly and nodded her head, looking at him with wide eyes. He gave her a fond smile and tucked a strand of hair behind her small ear. Where he touched it, a small smudge of pink came off of his hand and marred her hairs usual dark color. Emilynn didn't mind anymore. He was silent for a moment, gazing at her face.

"I want you to know." He said finally. "Your name."

Emilynn laughed. "You're silly. I already know my name." Her father shook his head.

"No, hon. Your real name."

Emilynn's eyebrows came together. "My _real_ name?" She repeated, puzzled.

"Mhm. The one Mommy and I gave you when you were born." Her dad watched her face as she processed this. She looked up at him with her huge eyes full of confusion.

"But I thought you gave me Emilynn when I was born." She said.

"No, Em. We gave you that name when you were two."

Emilynn's bottom lip stuck out and she looked at her father's chin. She seemed to be thinking hard. He waited patiently.

"Why?" She said finally. Her father took a deep breath.

"Remember how I said your mother was special?" He asked her. She nodded.

"Well, you're like her." He said.

"I'm special?" She asked. He squeezed her gently.

"Yes. Very special. Even more special than Mommy."

Emilynn gasped quietly. "_More _special than Mommy?" She repeated, shocked. Her father nodded, but his face was sad again.

"Yes." He said. "So special that people want to take you away."

"Away from you?" Emilynn asked, her face slowly morphing into panic. Her father nodded.

"Yes, Em."

"_Why?_" She cried. Her father wrapped his arms around her and cradled her into him.

"Shh, Em. It's okay. I'll tell you when you're older, alright?"

Emilynn's face was frozen in fear. "But I don't want them to take me away!" She wailed.

"Don't worry, Emmy. We wont let them. That's why we changed your name. To protect you. We'll always protect you. Promise." He kissed the top of her head.

"What's my real name, then?" She asked him.

"Tenshi." He said. He looked down at her.

"_Tenshi._" She repeated dreamily.

"Do you know what that means?" He asked her. She shook her head.

"It's Japanese. It means _angel_." He said.

"Why is it Japanese?" She asked him. He laughed at her.

"Because _you're _Japanese." He said, ruffling her hair lightly.

"I am?" She asked.

"Well, you've never been there. But it's in your blood."

"Do I look Japanese?" Emilynn asked her, tilting her face up to his. He pretended to look at her face as though it was the first time he had ever seen it before.

"Kinda." He said. "You've got the hair, definitely. These, though..." He said, tapping one of her eyelids gently, "These are all you."

She looked up into his eyes. They were dark brown, with small rings of gray inside of them. He returned her stare, gazing lovingly into her massive crystalline eyes. How she got them was a mystery, but they were most certainly beautiful. The lightest blue he had ever seen in an eye, almost white on some days. Inside them were swirls upon swirls of colors ranging from white to gray to blue.

"Those are one of the reasons your mother wanted to name you Tenshi. _Angel."_ He paused, smiling at her. "You've had those eyes since the day you were born, and she said when she first looked into them, she was convinced she was staring straight into heaven."

"_Tenshi_." Emilynn breathed, once again.

"Em, I need you to promise me something else." Her father said suddenly.

"What, Daddy?" She asked.

"You can never tell anyone your name. Your real one, I mean. And if you ever meet someone who calls you by that name, I need you to get away from them as fast as you can. Got it?" He looked down at her, his eyes filled with urgency that almost frightened her.

"Got it." She said firmly in her small voice.

"Okay." Her father said. Then the door opened. Emilynn looked up from behind her father's shoulder.

"Mommy!" She yelled, all seriousness gone. She clambered down from her father's lap, smudging paint all over his legs as she went. She ran to her mother, who immediately scooped her up into her arms.

"Oof!" Her mother huffed. "You're getting huge, Em." She said. She looked at Emilynn's father, who was walking towards the two. "Did you paint Daddy?" She asked, grinning at the man.

"I made memories." Emilynn said.

"Oh?" Her mother asked. Emilynn nodded happily.

"Looks like she got you, too." Her father said, returning the grin and gesturing at the woman's shirt. Emilynn's mother looked down and there was already bright smudges all over her.

"I'll definitely have memories of washing this out." She said. The two adults laughed.

"Mommy, Daddy told me a secret!" Emilynn said. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her father.

"Did he now? What'd he say?"

"He told me about how you named me Tenshi because you said my eyes were like heaven!"

Her mother's smile fell, and she slowly set Emilynn down. Emilynn made a protestant noise.

"Sorry Emmy, you're too heavy. It was making my back hurt."

"I'm sorry, Mommy."

"It's fine, Em. Why don't you finish your painting for me?"

"Okay." Emilynn said, bouncing off.

"You told her?" Emilynn could hear her mother whisper fiercely from her spot with her paints.

"She needs to know these things." Her father responded.

"No she doesn't!" Her mother said, less quiet now. "She's _six_. What if she tells someone?"

"She promised me she wouldn't."

Emilynn could hear her mother moan. "_Six, _Haru. She doesn't understand-"

"She does. She's a smart kid. We can't just _not_ tell her these things. Keeping her in the dark is more dangerous than keeping her in the light. You know that."

Her mother sighed shakily. "I know." She said, whispering again. "I know." She repeated. Emilynn hopped up with her finished painting and brought it to them. She found them embracing each other. Her mother shook in her father's arms. Her face was away, so she didn't see her daughter's approach. Emilynn's father held a finger to his lips. Emilynn nodded silently, standing still as her father walked her mother away. He brought her to the bedroom, then eventually came out again without her.

"Was Mom crying?" Emilynn asked her father. Her painting dangled from two of her tiny, dirty fingers.

"Yeah, Em." Her father said sadly.

"Why?"

"Because, she's tired."

"Is she tired of work?" Emilynn asked.

"No, Honey. She's just tired of being so strong all of the time."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes, when you're strong like your mother, you need to cry."

"Why?" Emilynn asked again.

"Because it's hard."

"Then why does she do it?"

Emilynn's father knelt down in front of Emilynn and took her one free hand. "For you." He said.

"But, why?"

"Because she loves you."

"I love her, too." Emilynn said quietly.

"Can you promise me one last thing then, Emmy?"

Emilynn looked up at her dad and nodded.

"I want you to be strong like your mother. For her."

"Because I love her." Emilynn said.

"Exactly."

"How do I be strong?" She asked him. Her father took her wet painting and set in on the table beside them. He picked her up and kissed her face firmly.

"Never give up, Em. Never stop fighting."

Emilynn thought of her mother crying silently in the next room. She nodded once.

"I wont."

* * *

Emilynn awoke with a loud cry. Her face stung from what she guessed had been a very hard slap.

"Wakey wakey, Princess." Hiroto cooed. So he was back. "Awe, did you have a bad dream?" He asked, wiping a finger quickly across her cheek. She realized it was wet with tears. He leaned in close to her face, his exposed mouth dangerously close to hers. "Was it about Mommy and Daddy?" He whispered venomously.

She spat in his face.

He grimaced, wiping his mouth. "I really wouldn't do that, if I was you." He growled.

"Why's that?" She muttered, suddenly the most brave she had felt since being captured.

"Because I was supposed to be coming here to kill you."

Emilynn's body froze.

"Yeah, Master Shredder finally gave up you and your turtle talk. But the thing is, I had a different plan."

She eyed him warily, her heart pounding loudly in her chest.

"Those good-for-nothing Foot men actually did well for once." He said. "They grabbed this on the way out." He held up a device that Emilynn immediately recognized as the phone she had used to call for Kasey's backup.

"We fixed it up, and it works now." He said. "So you know what we're gonna do?" The black eyes of his mask glared at Emilynn darkly. For once he didn't seem fazed by her lack of reply. "We're gonna call 'em up."

Emilynn's eyes widened. She had no clue who these strange people were that she had accidentally gotten involved with, but she knew for sure that she had no intention of putting them through what she'd already been through. She shook her head.

"Oh yes, Beautiful." He said before coughing out his disgusting laugh. "You're gonna sing like a pretty siren, and I'm gonna be the rocks hiding under the sea. An' together, you and me are gonna lure those repulsive turtles, and all their friends, straight to their horrible, horrible deaths."

* * *

**These chapters are starting to get just a little intense. Sorry if these note things ruin it for you. Just skip them if you need to, it's just me being dooty anyways. Mostly just a very long trip down memory lane this time. Along with slight torture and plans for murder. There'll be turtles next chapter, I promise. I know you guys are just here for our turtle babes. Maybe eventually these characters will get around to telling me what the heck this whole Emilynn thing is all about. Until then, bear with me. Anyways, here's the good old part where I thank you for reading and ask for reviews because I'm a lonely kid who craves attention and yadda yadda. But anyways. Thanks for reading. Review, maybe? I'd be interested to know what you're all guessing for this story's future. Your guess is as good as mine, honestly. Just let me know what you think, I guess. I don't know. I'm just a lonely boy who is also a girl who is a boy who writes way too much nonsense under these chapters and ah I'm trash I guess I'll stop rambling and go now. Okay, bye-o. c:**


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey Don, got anything on that girl?" Raph asked as Donatello came around the corner.

"No." Donnie groaned. He was messing with his T-phone. "Kasey's phone has been reactivated, somehow... but the tracker's gone."

"What do you mean?" Raph asked, biting into a bare waffle. He sat at the kitchen table, spinning around in his chair to face his brother. April was beside him, slowly and silently chewing her own snack.

"What I mean is that I can't track Kasey's phone anymore. Usually I'm able to see the approximate location of all six of our connected phones, but his is gone now. But it's still connected to all of our phones, which is why I can still see that it's activated. It's almost as though someone tampered with it. Like they removed the tracking mechanism but nothing else. Or disabled it, maybe. Or perhaps there's something in the way, interfering with our connection... or..."

Donnie trailed off, tapping his phone fiercely.

"Don." Raph said. Donnie looked up at him again. "If that phone's still connected to ours, and our tracker-whatevers are on, doesn't that mean that whoever's got that one can see where we are?"

Donnie paused before shaking his head. His eyes were back on his phone. "No." He said. "Luckily, the entire 'tracker-whatever' is all one big system."

"Meaning?" Raph asked.

"It goes both ways." Donnie said. "If they turn off theirs, they turn off access to ours, also. Basically, we can't see them, they can't see us."

"Well that's good, right?"

"Yes and no. Like I said, it goes both ways. We're at a stall."

"Couldn't you just hack into his phone from yours?" Leo suddenly said from his position on the couch. He turned to watch the exchange. "You know, since they're connected still. You could find out a way to turn the tracking thing back on, couldn't you?"

"Well, yeah. It's pretty simple, really. The thing is, as I've already said now several times, the tracker __goes both ways__. Meaning that if-"

"If you turn it back on, we'll be able to see them, but they'll be able to see us, too." April finished.

"__Thank you__, April." Donnie said, blowing out a huge breath. She tilted her hand at him in a dismissive gesture. Raph grunted.

"Isn't there some way you can make the tracker one-sided?" Leo asked.

"Yes, actually. I should be able to do that. Just give me a little time..." He trailed off, tapping at his phone with a new motivation.

"So we just have to sit here on our butts while you play with your stupid phone?" Raphael said with a scowl.

"At least I'm actually doing something, __Raph.__" Donnie said, looking pointedly at Raph. Raph sent him a hot look.

"And what can I do, Don? Mikey's already searched the entire city at least five times __today__. Do you expect me to run around topside all crazy with him? It's pointless and you know it."

Donatello sighed. "It's not pointless to him, Raph. And do you really think he wants to be doing that alone?"

"I told him he should have left her alone in the first place." Raph muttered. "What is she to us, anyways?"

Leo had walked up to the three of them. "She means something to Mikey, Raph, whether you want her to or not. We're not doing this for her. We're doing it for our little brother." He said. "And because it's the right thing to do."

"Right." Raph repeated shortly before sliding off of his chair and all but stomping to the dojo. The three watched him go.

"What's his problem?" April asked, looking between the two remaining brothers. Leo shook his head slightly.

"It's Mikey." He said. "Raph hates seeing him so upset. I mean, we all do. But Raph seems to be blaming that Lynn girl for all of this."

"He can't actually blame her, can he?" April asked, looking at Leo with disbelief. Leo shrugged, looking at her solemnly.

"Right now it's either he blames the Foot or her." He said. He looked back in the direction that Raphael had stalked off. "And since he can't get even with the Foot, he's going to tell himself that it's her he's getting even with."

"And you let him think that?" April raised an eyebrow at Leo. Leo shrugged for the second time.

"It's either that or we have an even __more __upset Raphael on our hands." He responded. "Just let him work it out. The second we can find the Foot he'll be right back on board with saving her."

Leo sat down at the table across from April. For a while they sat in silence, each of them consumed with their own thoughts. Donnie broke the silence by walking off again in the direction of his lab. He was too lost in his phone to even glance at the two of them as he left.

"What's the deal with her, anyways?" April asked, looking at Leo.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, who even is she? Why would the Foot want her? And what's with her and Mikey?"

Leo sighed. "I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know. All I know is that Mikey just found her one night. You know how he had started going out a lot at night. He must have just ran into her somehow. He said he thought she was dead when he saw her, so I guess that'd be why he was so interested. But I really have no clue. It definitely looked like she was dying, though. So I guess he technically saved her life."

"How so?" April interrupted.

"Oh." Leo said, remembering just how under-informed April was. "He brought her here the first night." April's eyebrows rose.

"Really? Here?"

Leo nodded.

"And what? You made him take her back? When you thought she was dying?"

Leo winced. "We couldn't keep her here. We couldn't just trust some random girl off of the streets."

"And what exactly were you doing when you took __me __in,Leo?"

He gave her a tired look. "You were different."

April scoffed. "Oh really? How? Because I wasn't dying?"

Leo groaned softly, laying his head on the table and folding his arms over top of it. "Okay, April. I get it." He mumbled. "We should have helped her. But Mikey was doing that just fine."

"Mikey was stealing __my stuff__!" April cried. She threw her hands up, only to let them fall back down with a loud huff. "I __knew __her clothes were way too familiar." She muttered, shaking her head to herself. Leo didn't reply.

"So what was he doing, exactly?" April asked, the anger gone from her tone. "He just snuck out to visit her when you guys weren't looking?"

"I guess." Leo said. "I mean... I __did __suspect... but I just figured it wasn't hurting anyone, so why stop him?" One of his hands fell off of his head and his knuckles made a hard noise against the table. "I didn't know he was giving all of your stuff to her, and I didn't think he was going to get so attached to her. I just thought he was going to help her out a bit and then let her be." Leo lifted his head up, looking at April.

"You know, when I first realized -or thought I realized- what he was doing, I was going to tell him to stop."

April looked up at him with a new interest. "Why?" She asked. Leo's forehead creased and he looked down at his hands.

"It seems stupid, but..." He paused. April waited quietly. His silvery eyes darted up to hers, and she raised her eyebrows in a '__go on'__ sense. He looked back down at his hands with a small sigh.

"It just felt wrong." Leo said. April frowned, looking at him curiously.

"What do you mean?"

Leo closed his eyes, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know." He said. "There's just something about it. About __her__. And now with all this stuff with the Foot... I just..." He trailed off for a second. "I get this feeling, like something bad is going to happen."

"But you still let him do it?" April asked gently.

Leo's head shook slightly. "I couldn't tell him to stop. You remember how he had gotten, right? How he was a couple weeks ago?" He opened his eyes, looking back up at her.

She did remember. There was no way she could forget. She didn't think anyone would. Everyone had been worried. Mikey had started to act almost... depressed. No one knew why. Every day he got a bit worse, and every day he was less and less... Mikey. All of the things he enjoyed he slowly drifted more and more away from. It was like he was becoming a completely different person. Some days he didn't even talk. It was terrifying. Even Splinter couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. The worst thing, the thing that April remembered most clearly, had been his eyes. Mikey's eyes were always so full of life, so happy. But then... they were dead.

April nodded.

"He stopped." Leo said. "It all just stopped."

April nodded again. There was no way any of them had missed it.

"Even the very first night, the night he carried her home with him. There was just a difference. He was being Mikey again. You could just tell. The way he was acting, the way he carried himself, the way he was whining, even. It was all just so... Mikey." Leo took a shaky breath. "His eyes." Leo said. "You could see the Mikey in his eyes."

April knew exactly what he meant by that.

"That's why we need to get her back. We absolutely __have __to. I don't know what it is about her, April. But we can't let that happen to Mikey again. It's coming back, April. Did you notice?"

April remembered the look on Mikey's face before he left the house early this morning. That crazy, desperate, hopeless look. Of course she had noticed. No doubt everyone else had noticed, also.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "I noticed."

Leo sighed. They sat in silence again.

April glanced at the clock. It was getting late. "Should I tell Kasey to bring him back?" April said. Kasey, surprisingly, had been the one to volunteer to help Mikey search the city. He must have gotten sick of Mikey doing it on his own these last few days. Whatever his reason, Leo was glad he was doing it. The rest of them had to battle their fear of this 'Dark Mikey' character's resurfacing. Kasey had been the only one to not see the worst of it, being the only one who still lived topside full time. Kasey was the only one who could truly stand to be around Michelangelo at this time. Yes, his brothers wanted to be around him and be there for him, but Kasey was the only one who could stand the hurt caused by Mikey's misery. Donnie had lent him a spare phone while he was out. They knew Mikey was most likely not to respond at this point.

"Yeah, probably." Leo said.

"Okay." April said after texting him. "They're on their way now." Leo nodded, then slowly got up from the table.

"I'm going to go self-train for a bit." He said tiredly. He, like Raphael, went to the dojo. April watched him go, hoping that him and Raph could manage to keep from getting in a fight. The last thing they needed right now was Raph and Leo mad at each other.

After a small while Kasey and Mikey appeared in the doorway. The sight of them made April jump. Usually with these two you could hear them coming from a mile away. Kasey walked with one arm around Mikey's shoulders, holding him tightly. April was surprised. Kasey and Mikey's friendship had always consisted primarily of them just being teenagers, joking and messing around. They were always up for a good prank war or a see-who-can-stuff-more-pizza-in-their-face-at-once challenge, but when things got serious, they seemed to stay away from each other. She wouldn't expect to see Kasey doing even the simplest "kind" thing to anybody, let alone Mikey.

"Hey, guys." April said in the cheeriest voice she could manage.

"Hey April." Kasey said. He sounded tired, but he too put up a cheery attitude.

"Hey." Mikey said quietly, which relieved April. He was still trying. He even gave her a fleeting smile. Fake as it was, it was reassuring to April. Kasey squeezed Mikey's freckled green shoulder before letting go of him. Without Kasey to hold him, Mikey seemed to instantly lose a couple inches in size. His whole body seemed deflated.

At the same time, Leo and Raph walked out of the dojo. It looked like they had managed to stay off of each other's nerves.

"Hey Mikey. Kasey." Raph said to them. Kasey nodded to them. Mikey was silent this time. The hurt was obvious on Raph's face. On everyone's faces.

Their moment of sad silence was interrupted by banging doors and loud, fast footsteps. "Guys!" Donnie shouted, running from the lab. "They're making a phone call! If I try hard enough I ca-"

He was cut short by Raphael's T-phone blaring to life. The usual cheery jingle rang from his belt. He looked up at everyone surrounding him. All of the people capable of calling him were currently in the same room as him. That is, all except for...

Raphael whipped his T-phone out of his belt, holding it up.

"Kasey's calling." He stated.

"Not me." Kasey replied.

"Answer it!" Mikey shouted, springing to life.

Everyone ran over to Raphael as he did what his little brother instructed.

"__Turtles__." The low voice of Hiroto hissed through the phone. Mikey's eyes were wide. He was clinging to Raphael's arm like a small child. At the sound of the man's voice, a small gasp flew from his lips.

"That's not the Shredder." He whispered in a similarly childish manner. Donnie put a hand on his small brother's head, patting it softly.

"Who are you?" Raphael spat. The hand holding his phone was shaking. April put a slight hand on his shoulder. Everyone watched the phone, unblinking.

"Who __I __am is of no concern to you __reptiles__." Hiroto said, mimicking Raphael's anger perfectly. "But I do believe someone here you know __is__." He made a sharp noise that made Mikey flinch. Donnie patted his head a second time.

"Come on, Beautiful." Hiroto said from the phone. His voice had faded slightly, as though his face was turned away from the phone on his side of the line. It was obvious he wasn't talking to them. "Don't you want to say hi to them?" He said in the same faded voice.

Mikey's hands dug further into Raph's arm. Raphael winced but said nothing. His brother's breathing was heavy and he stared at the phone with such intensity that it looked like he was trying to reach through it with his mind and kill the man on the other side. Maybe he was.

"She doesn't seem to want to talk to you guys." Hiroto said, his smugness leaking through the phone.

"Lynn." Mikey whispered.

"You could be lying to us." Raph said darkly. Though he directed his statement at the man in the phone, his words seemed to revolve around Michelangelo.

"Oh?" Hiroto asked sinisterly. "You want proof that she's here, do you?" He laughed in a disturbingly joyous way. "Give me a second, will ya?"

Mikey sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes darted quickly around the group of people before gluing to the phone again. "__No.__" He whispered. No one else understood his concern until a small whimper made its way through the phone. Not Hiroto's. A girl's. Then she shrieked. The loud cry faded and ended in a low moan.

"He's hurting her!" Mikey yelled. He gripped Raphael so tightly that Raphael gasped with pain.

"You don't like it when I do that, turtle?" Hiroto hissed, obviously pleased.

"__Nononono.__" Mikey groaned. He didn't seem to be breathing. His pleading was of no help, as she started crying out once again. This time is was longer. Raphael grit his teeth.

"Stop it!" They all heard her plead. "Leave them alone!"

A strangled gasp struggled out of Mikey's throat.

"__Leave them alone.__" Leo repeated in an awed whisper. He stared at the phone with disbelief. They all knew what he meant.

She wanted him to stop hurting them. Not her.

All anger Raphael had ever felt towards her vanished immediately. Mikey clapped his hands over the sides of his head, unable to take anymore.

"Make him stop." He begged, slowing sinking to the ground. Leo and Donnie tried to keep his from falling, but he was not to be helped. He slumped into a shaking heap. Raph growled ferociously.

"__Stop that!__" He yelled into the phone. A loud cracking noise came from the phone in Raph's trembling fingers.

"__Raph, __the phone." Donnie whispered harshly. Raph seemed to control himself enough not to shatter the phone. Mikey was mumbling nonsense from the ground as Hiroto laughed his same choking laugh once again.

"You want me to stop?" He hissed. "__Make me__."

The phone clicked. He was gone.

They all stared at the phone, unable to move, until the dial tone started ringing. Then Donnie's phone chimed. He slowly looked down at it. His eyes grew wide.

"He activated the tracker again." He said.

"Doesn't that mean he can see us now?" April asked. Donnie shook his head.

"I managed to install a shield on all of our phones right before he called, so no." Donnie replied.

"Well then find out where he is!" Raph ordered loudly. Donnie didn't even bother to call out his brother's rude behavior, just quickly set to tapping around on his phone. Hammering would be the better word. From the ground, Mikey seemed to realize finally that something had changed. His hands fell from his head slowly as he looked up and around him. His big eyes locked with Leo's.

"What happened?" He said in a small voice.

Donnie looked up from his phone to the people around him. His eyes finally made their way down to Mikey, whose sad blue eyes gazed back at him in the way a lost child would look at a friendly adult. He took a deep breath, then, "We have an address."

* * *

****Is a chapter really a chapter if it doesn't end on a cliffhanger?****

****Am I Gracilynn if I don't write an unnecessary paragraph on every page?****

****Okay. My absolute sincere thanks to all of you reading and to everyone who has taken the time to show even the slightest bit of interest in what I have created. Reading all of the positive and supportive things all of you have to say always makes my day. Always. It's truly a great thing to me to feel truly as though someone enjoys me and things I've worked hard on. Which is what you've done and continue to do for me. Thanks again. You guys are life savers. ****


	10. Chapter 10

Leonardo ran to the edge of the roof and crouched at the ledge to peer over. The building in front of him was one of the many warehouses set up along the outskirts of the city. A small dock branched off of the back of the building into the water. Roaming back and forth on this was a small group of Foot soldiers. Leo receded from the edge, turning to his brothers and beckoning them forward.

"This is it." He said. They all silently dashed to his side. He looked at each turtle in turn. "Okay, everybody remember the plan?" He asked. The three of them nodded. Then, everyone turned to Mikey. "Got it?" Leo asked him. Mikey looked at Leo as though he head two heads.

"I said I did, didn't I?" He whispered hotly. His brothers gaped at him. Was there ever a time when Mikey didn't need the plan repeated to him? Apparently so. Leo cleared his throat.

"Uh, yeah. Right." He said, shifting on the balls of his feet. "So, are we ready then?" Once again, the three brothers nodded their heads. Leo gave Mikey a second glance, but said nothing else.

"Just remember, if it goes wrong-"

"Forget her, give up, get out fast, escape through the water. We get it, okay? Now let's _go_." Mikey interrupted. He looked at the surprised faces of his brothers impatiently before turning and darting to the edge of the roof. After looking down at the scene, he turned back to his brothers. Raph grunted.

"I'm with the hothead." He muttered. He went to stand by Michelangelo. Donnie and Leo exchanged one worried look before joining them. Raph put a hand on Mikey's shoulder momentarily, looking between him and Donnie.

"See you on the other side." He said, then, with a mock salute, he leaped through the air onto the closest power line, beginning to shimmy his way across it. Leo turned to his two remaining brothers.

"See you." He said, before doing the same thing Raphael had. Donnie turned to Mikey. Mikey's eyes met his before darting away quickly.

"Come on." Mikey said, jumping down from the building. With a small sigh, Donnie followed him.

They landed on the end of the dock. Immediately the mass of Foot jumped to action, drawing their weapons and running towards the two turtles. Mikey and Donnie instantly drew their weapons, ready to fight the small group. Before any sort of battle could commence, the group stopped. With their bodies they formed a wall, trapping the turtles between the water and themselves. Mikey looked at Donnie, who was equally perplexed. He looked back at the watching Foot.

"What's up?" He asked nonchalantly. Had Donnie not have been seeing what he was, he would have figured one of Mikey's long lost pals had just shown up.

"Weapons. Go." One of the soldiers responded in a strong accent that neither of the turtles recognized. Mikey looked at Donnie once again, and flashed him a winning Michelangelo smile.

"I guess teaching these guys to speak isn't in the Shredder's budget." He said, grinning at the group. "Don't worry, guys, you'll just have to step up your toaster-stealing game from now on." He said to them. Donnie was put off by the sudden mood change of his younger brother. Mikey being Mikey again was a good thing, right?

A large looking member of the group stepped forward, growling at them. "Weapons. Go. _Now._" The one that had spoken before demanded. Mikey raised his brows.

"Another word, impressive!"

Donnie elbowed him. "_Mikey_." He hissed.

"What?" Mikey whispered back with a grin. "I'm just messing around."

"Lynn." Donnie said. Mikey's grin fell.

"Alright, alright!" Mikey called out, addressing the Foot again. "Weapons _go_, yadda yadda." He threw his over his shoulder without looking back. There was a splash as they landed in the water behind them. Donnie copied him. The big Foot soldier that had stepped forward grunted and stepped to the side. In one fluid movement, the rest of the group did the same. With their bodies they had cleared a path, soldiers lining both side. Mikey shrugged, and walked forward into them. Donnie followed him closely, scanning the still faces of the Foot. Once the two of them had walked a few steps, the large one shoved Donnie from behind, causing him to stumble forward into his brother.

"Hey!" Donnie cried. He turned his head to give a irritated look at the emotionless face of the masked Foot behind him.

"I don't really think manners was on the budget, either." Mikey muttered.

"Clearly not."

The group led them to the doors. One of the smaller men stepped forward and banged on them twice. A moment later, the doors opened inward without a sound. Behind them was yet another group of Foot soldiers. They too stepped aside, clearing a similar path for the two turtles to walk through. Donnie noticed Mikey swallow nervously. He tried to reach forward to put a hand on his brother's shoulder, but one of the men grabbed his arm and forced it back down before he could. Donnie glared into the crowd of Foot that had formed on either side of them.

The group led the two brothers down a dimly lit hallway, which ended in another massive double-door. The Foot stopped. Donnie and Mikey looked at them, waiting for some sort of change. One of the men that had been toward the front gestured towards the door. The big one that had been behind Donatello shoved both of them forward.

"I think our friends are saying goodbye." Donnie said in a low voice. Mikey turned to him.

"Don't you know, Donnie?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly. "Friends never say goodbye."

Donnie scoffed. "Right. They just shove you a lot." As soon as he said this, the big soldier grunted loudly and shoved them again at the door.

"Okay, okay, we get it." Mikey said. "We're going." He turned to the door and took a big breath. This time as Donnie reached out to him, no one stopped him. Mikey nodded almost as though Donnie had said something to him, and reached out to the door. Donnie noticed his hands were shaking slightly. Mikey gave him one last look that Donnie couldn't quite read, then shoved open the doors.

As soon as the doors opened, Mikey raised a hand to his eyes, stopping short. Donnie ran into him from behind, similarly blinded.

"Blinded by the light." Mikey found the courage to mutter. The two of them could hear the heavy doors closing behind them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, turtles. I forgot vermin such as yours dwell in darkness." The snakelike voice of Hiroto suddenly growled. "I'll turn those down for you." His voice echoed around the two turtles. Donnie, stepped forward, feeling his brother tense beside him. Then, the lights turned off. Mikey dropped his arm. The room was completely black, except for a single spot in the very center of the room that was illuminated with a spotlight. In this, was Emilynn. She was tied to a chair, seemingly unconscious. A choked sounding gasp came from Michelangelo. He took a quick step forward, but Donnie grabbed his arm, stopping him. Mikey looked back at the dark shadow of his brother with wide eyes.

"Wait." Donnie whispered. He squeezed Mikey's arm. Mikey's eyes looked down to the dark outline of Donnie's hand. His head fell with a small whimper of a noise. Then, he lifted it and nodded firmly. He could only hope his hidden brothers could see it in such darkness.

"Where is he?" Mikey said quietly. A low chuckle bounced across the room, immediately following his question.

"Everywhere, reptile." Hiroto's voice sounded from directly behind them. They both turned, but saw nothing. Mikey turned again to the spotlight, to see that it was no longer on Emilynn. It was slowly crawling across the floor towards the two of them. It stopped directly overhead, making the rest of the room invisible.

"You're uglier than I imagined." He said in a disgusted tone. Neither turtle could make out at this point where his voice was coming from. Donnie gulped, and Mikey suddenly grinned.

Their luck had for once worked in their favor. Whoever this man was, he apparently was not the slightest bit fazed that there was only two turtles. Unless he was acting, it was apparent that he had no clue how many turtles there actually were. He thought he had them right where he wanted them. He was wrong.

"I could say the same for you, bud." Raphael's voice suddenly said, echoing with the same effect that Hiroto's had.

"What?" They all heard Hiroto gasp, before the entire room was suddenly lit up again. Squinting, Mikey could make out Raph's figure, standing above a clearly unconscious man. He was holding some sort of remote device. Raph looked up to his two brothers.

"That guy sucked." He said. Donnie grinned.

"Way to go, Raph!" He said approvingly. Raph smirked smugly.

"I'm great, I know." Then he looked around with a disappointed look on his face. "Not much of a fight, though."

"Where's Lynn?" Mikey said in a small, panicked voice. They all looked to the now empty chair sitting in the center of the empty room .

"I got her."

They turned, and Leo was suddenly there, holding the limp girl in his arms. Mikey gasped with such force that a small squeak escaped him. He rushed over to Leo, looking at Lynn. His face immediately crumpled upon seeing her state. He groaned.

"Oh n-"

Mikey's voice was cut off as suddenly an ear-piercing alarm started blaring through the building. The door from which they had entered smashed open, and a sea of Foot soldiers started pouring out of it. Raphael grinned evilly.

"Now _this _is a fight!" He yelled, charging into the mass head-on.

"Raph!" Leo cried. "We have to retreat!"

Raph continued to plow through Foot men, oblivious to his brother's call. Leo groaned, then looked at Mikey. Suddenly, he shifted Emilynn, placing her in Mikey's arms.

"Protect her." He said, knowing that Mikey did not need to be told. Mikey held her against him tightly as Leo dashed off to retrieve Raph. Donnie ran over to Mikey, pulling his shoulder.

"Mikey, _move!_" He cried.

"Why?" Mikey asked. His question was never heard, as suddenly a huge crash blasted through the room. Mikey darted out of the way just in time for the Shellraiser to come smashing through the wall and skidding to a halt right where he had been standing. The door slid open, and April hung out of it.

"Come on!" She yelled. Mikey and Donnie ran to her, and she ducked out of the way as they both leaped into the door.

"Where's Leo and Raph?" She asked them as Mikey carefully sat Emilynn in his seat, buckling her limp figure in as best as he could. Donnie opened his mouth to reply just as the two turtles in question jumped in the door.

Leo slammed the door shut behind them, running to the driver's seat. Kasey sat in it, holding the wheel tightly.

"Can I drive? That was _awesome_." He said, grinning at Leo like a madman.

"Kasey, no." Leo said. Kasey groaned, getting up just as loud banging started shaking the vehicle. Leo quickly slid into his seat.

"Hold on!" He said loudly, slamming on the pedal. Everyone cried out, falling on top of each other. Mikey grabbed Emilynn, preventing Raphael from landing on her. He instead landed on Mikey's shell with an irritated huff.

"You could have given us a second!" He growled, shoving himself up off of his brother hotly. Everyone struggled to find their footing. Raphael went to his position with the Shellraiser's weapons, deciding to take out his anger by smashing into the remaining Foot soldiers from inside of the vehicle.

Kasey watched Leo's intense driving ruefully. "I could have totally handled driving back. I was a friggin' _pro." _

April rolled her eyes from where she now sat in Donnie's usual seat with a scoff. "Kasey, the only reason you were a 'pro' is because you were _supposed _to crash into something."

Kasey sent her an offended look. "Yeah, sure." He sighed. "You and Leo are such party crashers sometimes."

"Right?" Raph grunted. "I could have totally fought all those guys by myself."

"Raph, don't lie to yourself." Donnie said. Leo held up one finger as though seconding that thought. He was too busy with his insane driving to chip in otherwise.

"You want to bet, Don?" Raph said. "I could take _you _on."

"I'd be willing to test that theory." Donnie said.

"Oohh!" Kasey said excitedly. "I bet Raph. Sorry, Don." He gave Donnie an apologetic look, which Donnie brushed away with his hand.

Mikey continued to hold Emilynn tightly as this exchange took place, not paying any attention to his brother's nonsense. April, seeing the concern in his face, got up and went to him, letting Donnie take his usual place. She put a hand on Mikey's head lightly. He looked up.

"You okay?" She asked softly. He looked back at Emilynn. His eyes locked with one of the many cuts along her arms.

"Look at her." He said. April did, for the first time. She winced, seeing the same thing Mikey was. Emilynn was a mess of gashes and bruises, and what looked like burn marks. Her wrists were completely chafed. No doubt her ankles and legs were the same. April could only hope that the man had left the rest of her body alone. But, as she was looking, Emilynn's head lolled to the side, falling on Mikey's shoulder. April could see that the bruises continued along her neck and face, and they seemed to trail beneath the collar of her shirt. April shuddered, kneeling next to Mikey and doing her best to wrap her arms around him.

"It's not your fault, Mikey." She said. Surprisingly, Mikey laughed. His eyes locked with April's.

"April." He said. She was chilled by just how un-Mikey he sounded. "It's all my fault."

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter. I planned on continuing it but thought that I would leave it just for the sake of being dramatic. I had a bit of a hard time writing this chapter, honestly. Don't really know why. Sorry if it's a little _eh_. I'm excited to write the next one, though, so hopefully it'll be better. I hope you liked it! See you around c:**


	11. Chapter 11

"Okay, Don." Raph said as they walked into the Lair. "Fighten' time."

"Now?" Donnie asked. "We have a three hour training session in thirty minutes!"

Raph rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles all in one movement. His lips curled upwards into a sinister smile. "Right." He said. "But I'll make this fast for you." He twirled his sais in his fingers. "That training's not gonna be fun for ya after getting the shell kicked out of ya, though."

"_Guys_." Mikey said icily. The two of them looked at Mikey. He tilted his head at Emilynn. "Bigger fish." He said. Donnie sighed.

"Mike's right, Raph." He said, looking back to Raph.

Raphael snorted. "I think someone's chickening out." Donnie gave him a flat look.

"Raph, I am _not-_"

Kasey coughed out a sharp "Chicken" into his hand. At Donnie's irritated stare he flapped his hands slightly in a wing-like manor.

"You're in on this?" Donnie said. Kasey stopped, shrugging.

"I'm bored." He said simply. Donnie put a hand over his eyes, shaking his head ruefully. April touched his arm lightly, looking at him with apologetic eyes. He lifted his hand, returning the gaze.

"Go ahead and tear him up, Donnie. We can handle it for now." April looked at Leo and Mikey, who nodded as if confirming that claim. Kasey snickered from where he stood.

"Hey April." He called. "I bet you five bucks Raph'll cream him." Raphael puffed out his chest. Kasey raised his eyebrows at April tauntingly.

"Wow, thanks." Donnie muttered.

"You're on." April said, which seemed to lift Donnie's spirit's. She winked at him and he smiled.

"Thanks." He said gratefully. She pat the back of his shoulder, smiling back at him. Raph clicked his tongue tiredly.

"Okay, okay, enough of this chick-flick crap. Let's just go beat each other's faces in, alright?"

Donnie looked at Raphael and stretched his arms out in front of him, making his joints pop. "Deal." He said. They walked off towards the dojo together, with Kasey at their heels like a loyal lapdog. April turned back to Leo and Mikey, to see that they were no longer there.

"Nice." She muttered.

"She can use my room." Mikey said, carrying her down the hall. Her head lolled against his chest. She whimpered slightly, causing Mikey to shift her more securely against him.

"Mikey, I think it'd be best if she used mine." Leo said. Mikey looked at him only for a slight instant, displeasure clear on his face.

"Why?" He asked, not harshly. Leo was hurt to hear the undertone of panic in Mikey's voice. He looked at Mikey's face. So sad, yet somehow so much brighter than it had been before.

"Actually, your room's fine." Leo said. "I don't really know why I even suggested that." Mikey nodded, and Leo saw a sliver of his sadness fall away. He once again shifted Emilynn against his body, holding her tightly. He took her to his room, laying her on his bed so softly she might as well have been made from paper. As soon as her body hit the bed, she gasped slightly.

"Mikey." She said.

Mikey stopped, staring at her. She was still asleep. She lay on her back with her arms on either side of her and her head turned to the side, exposing her slender neck. The hand closest to Mikey started clenching and un-clenching as though it had a mind of it's own. Mikey knelt down, taking the rogue hand in his in an almost instinctive manner. Immediately, it stopped twitching, clenching a final time around his massive fingers. His eyes never left her face.

"She said my name." He whispered.

Leo looked between his brother and Emilynn, equally mesmerized. What was going on?

"She did." He said, almost as shocked as his brother. He went to stand beside Michelangelo, who looked up despairingly.

"Help me fix her." He pleaded. Leo swallowed hard, unable to bear the way Mikey's voice sounded. Just then, April came into the room.

"What's up?" She asked. Her face seemed to fall the slightest bit as she accessed the situation, but she quickly pulled it together again. Mikey had returned to staring at Emilynn, not responding to her question. April looked to Leo, who took a deep breath.

"We need bandages." He said solemnly. "And maybe stitches." He looked down at Emilynn and her tiny red-stained body. "And a change of clothes, if we have them."

April nodded from where she stood. "Should I get Splinter?" She asked. Leo paused before shaking his head.

"He knows she's here. He'll come when he's ready."

"Okay." April said, dashing out the door.

"Why wont she wake up?" Mikey mumbled. Leo took a step forward, kneeling next to his brother. Gently, he toke Emilynn's wrist. It felt like he could break it with just a twitch of his fingers. He bet he probably could. He felt for a pulse. It was there, but faintly. Too slow.

"She was probably drugged." He said. "Donnie would know what to do." Leo could only hope that their fight would be over quickly. He mentally slapped Raphael for his poor choice of timing. He really was so arrogant, sometimes.

"Will she be okay?" Mikey asked. "Until they're done?"

"Yeah." Leo guessed. "She'll be fine." April came back then, holding a large first-aide kit.

"I got this." She said from behind the box. She peered around it to watch her step in Mikey's mess of a room. "But all of the clothes I had here were kind of... stolen." She looked at Mikey pointedly, meeting his eyes, which darted away quickly. He suddenly stood up, releasing Emilynn's hand. It fell in an almost sad way, curling tightly in on itself. Mikey turned and went to a dresser against the far wall, rummaging through it. Out of all of the turtles, Mikey had the most clothes. Collecting random articles of clothing was almost like a hobby to him. He pulled some stuff and returned with them.

"These are gonna be _way_ too big, but they're clean. At least..." He paused, sniffing the clothes. "They're the cleanest I got."

"Those are fine." April said. She handed the big box to Leo, who opened it and started pulling things out of it, setting them around him. "What do we do first, Leo?" She asked. Leo looked at his pile of supplies, then at Emilynn, and eventually at April.

"First, we're going to need to get all of this blood off of her. I can't really see what we're dealing with right now." He said.

"What about the clothes?" Mikey said. The things Emilynn was currently wearing were a mess of tears and blood stains.

"I guess we should do that first." Leo said. His eyes met April's. "Do you think you could change her by yourself?" He asked. April gave him a confused look.

"By myself?" She repeated. Leo raised an eyebrow at her.

"I could help if you needed it, but I just think that she would prefer..." He trailed off. April's face suddenly lit up as she realized what he was saying.

"Oh!" She gasped. "Yeah, right. Sorry." She took the clothes from Mikey. "I can do it." Leo nodded, standing up.

"You might as well clean up whatever's under them while you're at it." He said, giving her an apologetic glance. "Sorry to make you do all that, it's just that-"

"No, no. It's fine." April waved him off. "I'm just glad I can help."

"Thanks, April." He said, giving her a small smile. "I'll wait outside." He walked towards the door, only to stop at the entrance and turn back. He looked at Mikey. April followed his gaze. Mikey was staring at Emilynn.

"Mikey." April said softly. His eyes snapped up to hers.

"Can I stay?" He asked. April looked at Leo, exchanging a doubtful look with him.

"Uh, Mikey-" April began.

"I won't look." He said, cutting her off. He begged her silently with his eyes. She gulped. She always did have a weakness for Mikey's puppy eyes. She looked at Leo, who just shrugged.

"Well... I guess." She said. Mikey's eyes brightened with childish joy. April couldn't help but smile at that. Leo turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. April looked at Mikey, twirling her finger at him in a "turn around" motion. He obeyed, spinning on his toes until his back was to his bed. April sat on the bed next to Emilynn's knees, and began undressing her. The pants slid right off of her skinny legs. April gasped at the large black bruises that lined both of them.

"What is it?" Mikey asked worriedly, turning slightly.

"Don't look." April said. "It's fine." She quickly pulled the massive sweatpants Mikey had given her over Emilynn's legs. She pulled the drawstrings as tightly as they would go and knotted them securely.

Next, April attempted to battle the unconscious girl out of her hoodie. She grunted.

"Why is this so hard?" She said with a frustrated sigh.

"Do you need help?" Mikey asked, shifting where he stood. "I could keep my eyes closed."

"N-" April began, but stopped. "Yeah, that would help." She admitted. Mikey turned around with his eyes squeezed shut tightly. He walked over to the bed. April took his arm and guided him to the spot on the bed next to Emilynn's head, though he could have made it there just fine without her.

"What do I do?" He asked, keeping his eyes shut comically tight.

"Can you just hold her up for me?" April asked. "Like, her back?" Mikey nodded, searching with his hands. Once he found where she was lying he managed to prop her up against him, holding her by her shoulders and using his own shoulder as a pillow for her drooping head. "Thanks." April said. She managed to get the hoodie off, and the shirt next. Mikey stiffened slightly as his hands touched Emilynn's bare skin, and April didn't bother to comment. She winced at the girl's ribs, poking out of her thin white skin dangerously. "We really need to feed this girl." April said. Mikey made a questioning noise, opening his eyes instinctively. He saw Emilynn and immediately he realized his mistake, snapping them shut again with a small squeak-like noise. His face turned pink. April found it too amusing to scold him for it. She laughed quietly, quickly throwing the massive sweatshirt onto Emilynn. It seemed to swallow her body whole. "Okay, done." She said, loud enough for Leo to hear. Luckily there were no gashes needing to be cared for underneath any of her clothing.

Mikey opened his eyes, looking at April sheepishly. She held back a laugh. Leo came back into the room. "How is it?" He asked.

"Fine. Just bruises. Her arms are the bad parts." April rolled up the sleeves of the sweater to expose her skinny arms. Like every other time she looked at them, she winced. Leo walked over, crouching by the bed amid all of the supplies he had laid out. He picked up two small sponge-like items that had been inside the box, handing one to April. Then he handed her a bottle of spray. It wasn't labeled. April held it to her face, scanning it's contents.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Donnie made it. Just spray it on basically everything." Leo said. April gave him a skeptical look. "It helps clean it." He said. "And heal it." April still looked at him with a slightly doubtful eye. He let out a breath. "We've used it tons of times on ourselves, April. And Kasey, too. It works great."

April puffed out a heavy breath, looking upwards in a "whatever" fashion. Despite this she began spraying and cleaning Emilynn's left arm. From the other side of the bed, Leo looked up at Mikey. He had not bothered to set her down after helping April change her, and her head lolled into his neck sleepily.

"Mikey, can you hold her arm out for me?" Leo asked.

"Sure thing." He replied, doing as his brother asked. Leo nodded in thanks, spraying down Emilynn's other arm. Just as they were each finishing with cleaning up her arms, Kasey came barging into the room. April was the only one to look at him.

"Who won?" She asked.

"Splinter." Kasey said. At this, Leo and Mikey looked up.

"What do you mean?" April asked for the three of them. Kasey shook his head, flopping onto a free space on the bed with a sigh.

"_Brothers should not fight each other for such stupid reasons. Especially when there's a stone cold chick that must be attended to._" Kasey said in a deep voice, before continuing in his own: "That's what he said." April gave him a doubtful look and upon seeing it Kasey added "More or less." April rolled her eyes, turning back to Emilynn.

"Where are they?" Leo asked.

"Oh, they're coming. Raph just made the not-so-smart idea of talking back to the mighty sensei, so they're being held up a little longer for a 'special lesson.' "

Mikey clicked his tongue, wincing at the idea. "Poor Don." He said quietly. Everyone mumbled their agreement, before quietly going back to what they were doing.

Leo looked between Emilynn's arms, which were now clean. The marks stood out intensely from her light skin. The majority of them looked to be a few days old already, and beginning to heal on their own. He pointed at one gash that seemed significantly worse than the others.

"I think we should stitch this one." He said. "I can do it." He sorted through the tools he had set around him, picking up a shiny curved needle and a spool of similarly shiny thread.

"Shouldn't Donnie do it?" Mikey asked, giving Leo a worried look.

"Mikey," Leo paused in the act of threading the needle to look up at his brother. "You know I'm just as good at stitching as Donnie is." Mikey averted his eyes, nodding quickly.

"Right." He said. "Sorry." He flapped his hand at Leo in a "go on" sort of gesture. Leo continued with what he was doing. He grabbed a small packet and opened it, pulling out a tiny cloth. He wiped this over the wound. As he did so, Emilynn's hand started opening and closing again like it had before. Her veins rose and fell eerily from beneath the papery skin of her wrists. Mikey seemed to finally realize that he had never set the girl down, and slowly did so. He instead moved to sit beside his brother, once again taking Emilynn's hand. He gave Leo a hesitant look.

"Is this okay?" He asked. Leo just nodded, adjusting himself so he could reach her arm properly from behind his brother. He continued in the act of caring for the wound, and several minutes later, Donnie entered the room. He was rubbing his head with a wince.

"Hey." He mumbled.

"Raph?" Leo asked, gesturing to Donnie's head, which Donnie promptly shook.

"Splinter." He said.

"Ah."

"He did have a point, though. Sorry I didn't come to help sooner."

"It's fine, Don." The rest quietly agreed.

"Well, I'm not usually the one to say this, but... what's the situation?"

Leo nodded towards Emilynn's exposed arms. "The arms are the only part that really need to be looked at." He said. "I've got this one covered... April, how's that one looking?"

April threw the sponge she had been using down, wiping her hands together. "I'm done with this part." She said, looking between Leo and Don. "There's only two that are real bad looking, I think."

Donnie moved to her side to validate this statement. He nodded after a moment. "You're right." He noted, to which April grinned smugly. "I'll start on these two. April?" Donnie stopped, waiting for April's attention. Finally, she dropped her satisfied grin and turned to Donnie quickly.

"What?" She asked, oblivious. Donnie sighed slightly.

"I need you to move." He said.

"Oh!" April exclaimed, her cocky demeanor having vanished. "Sorry." She slid off of Mikey's bed, moving out of the way. As Donnie sat down, she looked between the three turtles in the room. "So." She said, causing two of them to look up. "Am I done here, then?"

Leo spared a moment to turn to her. "For now, yes." Then he added, "You could make something to eat, if you wanted." Seeing her defeated expression. "That would definitely be helpful.

April perked up at that. "Okay, but no whining about what I make this time, _Michelangelo._" She sent him a hard stare.

"I wouldn't if maybe you made us something _edible_ for a change, _April_." Mikey replied, making a face at her.

"_Edible _is kind of a fancy word for you, Mikey." April teased. "Reading up on the dictionary lately?"

Mikey scoffed. "Not nearly as much as you should be with cook books." The pair was grinning at each other. Leo and Donnie exchanged glances, grinning also.

"Yeah whatever." April laughed, letting him win. She left the room, heading into the kitchen. Raphael was sitting on a stool at the table, frowning into thin air.

"What's got you so smiley?" He muttered hotly as he massaged a sore spot on his arm. April only smiled wider.

"Mikey." She said simply. Raph's brow shot upwards. He leaned backwards, staring at April hopefully.

"He's back, huh?" He asked.

"He's getting there."

At this, even post-lecture Raphael had to smile.

* * *

***totally dead Gracilynn rises from the grave momentarily to post this after like 10 years***

**and now I disappear once again**

***poof***


	12. Chapter 12

Mikey walked through the lab doors, squinting into the darkness. "Donnie?" He called. He felt along the wall until he found a light switch. This he flipped, and the various lights around the room all lit up at once.

"I'm back here," Don called back. Mikey walked through the crowded space and turned past a row of scientific devices he couldn't even begin to comprehend. Behind them sat Donatello, inches from a massive computer screen that shone brightly on his face.

"Jeez, Don, you're gonna kill your eyes, man."

Donnie looked to Mikey momentarily, blinking hazily. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot to turn those on." He looked back to the screen, obviously distracted.

"What's the news?" Mikey stopped behind Donnie to see the screen. On it was a mass of racing words.

"Well, she's definitely drugged," Donnie said, tapping the small vial of red liquid to his side. "But that was pretty much certain, anyways." His focus shifted as the computer beeped. The words on the screen had stopped, but then started up again with another small beep. Donnie sighed. "I'm comparing her blood now to basically every drugknown to man. It's just that _apparently_ whatever's in here," he gestured towards the vial, "Isn't one of them."

Mikey leaned forward, sticking his face next to Donatello's until they both had their eyes just inches from the screen. He watched all the flashing words of what he assumed were bizarre drug names.

"So you're saying... you don't know what she's got?" He asked anxiously. Donnie sighed again.

"As of now, pretty much." After a glance at Mikey's face, he added: "But I do have a list of things that there is a very high chance that this particular drug may contain."

"What does that mean?"

"Well," Donnie said, leaning back. "It looks like whatever the Foot put into her is something that they made up themselves, or, at least, got from someone else who produced it illegally and off-record. However, my computer was able to pick up traces of several different drugs that the maker's of this, say, 'mystery drug' must have used. Therefore, we may be able to search them each individually and devise some sort of list of potential cures. After creating these, I imagine that I could use samples of her blood as tests, and experiment with the data and materials I have until I find something that seems to kill off the poison in her blood. Of course, I won't use anything on her until I am at least mostly sure that it actually works. Unless for some reason it becomes absolutely necessary that I perform the curing immediately."

"Okay," Mikey said, looking at Donnie. "Can you, like, paraphrase that or something? But like, at a speed that my ears can actually process."

Donnie groaned, looking up at the ceiling as though it may offer him some sort of help. "To put it in fewer words-"

"Fewer words is good."

Donnie gave Mikey a miffed look. "To put it in fewer words," he said again, "I think I can make her something that'll bring her out of her coma."

Mikey's mouth popped open. "Coma?" He asked.

"Well, yes." Donnie looked away in thought. "I think that's what it is." .

"Wait." Mikey stepped back so he could watch Donnie carefully. "What do you mean?"

Donnie cleared his throat sharply. "Exactly what I said, Mikey. This drug that the Foot put into her was intended on putting her into a forced coma. I believe that it was only meant to be temporarily." He made a small gasp sound suddenly. "Unless," His eyes widened in realization, "They already had the cure on hand. Meaning that, since they are the only ones with knowledge of this drug, that would make them the only ones with the cure. That way, on the off chance that their plan did not work, we wouldn't have it. And she would..." He trailed off.

Mikey watched him think nervously. "She would what?" He asked, his voice higher than usual. Instead of answering, Donnie scooted forward quickly in his chair and pounded something into his keyboard. The words on the screen stopped racing, and the screen blanked. Then, a list of ten or so very large words appeared on the screen. Donnie hit some more buttons until another page opened up, revealing more information that was apparently the information on all the drugs that had been given to Emilynn. Mikey's eyes immediately locked onto a single word displayed in large threatening letters: **LETHAL. **

Several lines later, the word sat again. Then again, and again.

"Donnie." Mikey took a shaky breath. "I may not understand ninety percent of the words on this screen right now, but I know what 'lethal' means." his voice trembled slightly as he said: "So, please tell me, why does it say that?"

Donnie swallowed, saying nothing.

"Donnie?"

Donnie pried his eyes from the screen, forcing them to look at his little brother.

"Is Lynn going to die?" Mikey choked out.

Donnie inhaled slowly, his eyes falling to his feet. "It would seem," He said in a small voice, "That is what the Foot had planned."

Mikey stepped back. "How long does it take?"

Donnie glanced back at the screen. "Several hours." He said quietly.

"How long has it been?" Mikey said in an almost inaudible voice, though the answer was obvious.

"Several hours." Donnie said again. Donnie didn't dare to look up at his brother's face.

"You can make an antidote, right?" Mikey asked, his voice rising.

Donnie shook his head. "It would take me at least a day." He said, staring blankly at nothing. "Half of one if I rushed."

"What?" Mikey shouted. "What do you mean? You can save her! You have to save her!"

"Mikey, there's not enough time."

"Yes there is!" Mikey cried. "Start working on it! _Come on!_"

Leonardo and Raphael entered the room, their attention aroused by Mikey's sudden shouting.

"What is going on?" Leo demanded in an alarmed voice. Mikey looked between Leo and Raph with wild eyes.

"Leo! Raph! Tell him to make it!" He ran to the two of them. Raph took him by the shoulders.

"Mikey, cool it."

Mikey stopped, staring at him. "But- But-"

Raph pulled Mikey to his side, holding him around the shoulders with one arm. "Don, what's goin' on?" He asked over Mikey's head.

Donnie closed his eyes, massaging his temples. "The drug they gave to her... she wasn't meant to last more than a couple hours."

Leo and Raph exchanged confused looks. "What do you mean?"

"The Foot are the only ones with an antidote. I assume, anyways. I can't even be sure that _they _wanted her to stay alive after they were done with her." He shook his head slowly, unable to say more.

"Wait." Raph said, releasing Mikey to step towards Donatello. "You mean she's- she's not...?"

Donnie nodded solemnly.

This time is was Leo's turn to step up to him. "No."

His three brothers looked at him.

"We wont let that happen. I wont let that happen."

"Leo..." Donnie said, anguish clouding his features, "We're out of time. There's... there's nothing we can do."

"No." Leo said again. "She's not- She's still okay. We still have time. So stop thinking like that, all of you." He looked at each of his brothers in turn, waiting a long second on Mikey. "What do we have to do?"

Donnie straightened in his chair. "Yeah, yeah. You're right, sorry." He locked eyes with Mikey. "Really. We can do this. We just have to... uh..." He trailed off, drumming his thumbs furiously against the table as he thought.

"The Foot." Raph supplied. "You said they had the antidote."

Donnie looked up at Raph with wide eyes. "That's right!" He said excitedly. "That's right," He repeated, looking to the group's leader. "Of course, that's only a theory." He said, his hopeful expression fading. "I still can't be sure if they had ever bothered to make or acquire it in the first place. We don't know whether they wanted to keep her alive or not." He put a hand on either side of his head, rubbing it with stress.

"Is there any other way?" Leo asked.

Donnie brought his hands forward, pressing his palms against his eyes. "No." He said after a moment.

"Than we're going." Raph said, stealing Leo's line. He turned and left without waiting for their answer. Leo turned and followed, pushing Mikey gently towards the exit.

"Come on." He said to both of his brothers. They followed him out.

"What is the meaning of this?" Splinter implored as he saw the brothers heading towards the sewers. April and Casey were by his side, equally interested. Donnie quickly explained the situation to them. April stepped forward.

"I'm coming." She said.

"Yeah, count me in." Casey added. Leo hesitated.

"Leo," April cut in before he could object, "You could use the help."

"I don't know," Leo muttered. "What if a having a larger group is the _opposite_ of what we need?"

"In that case, we'll make ourselves scarce. Easy. Don't let your head get all screwed up. You _know_ it's better to have us there just in case."

Leo sighed. "Alright. But what if Mikey needs help here?"

Mikey, who was closer than Leo had realized, stepped in.

"What?" He cried. "I'm going with you."

"No, Mikey. You have to stay with Emilynn."

"But-"

"Mikey, you're staying."

Mikey gave in faster than Leo had predicted, closing his mouth and looking at the floor with a small nod. Raph grabbed Leo and pulled him to the side.

"Leo, are you crazy?" He muttered hotly. Leo looked at him with confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Raph grumbled lowly, "What are you doing? You can't leave Mikey here."

"And why not?" Leo whispered back sharply.

"Think about what you're doin', Leo. We don't know how much time she has left. What are the chances we wont make it? Do you really want Mikey to be here if we're too late?" Raph paused. His eyes flickered as he whispered in a thick voice, "Do you really want him to see her die?"

Leo bowed his head, and Raph leaned forward closer to his ear.

"Think about what it would do to him, Leo."

Leo looked back up, meeting Raph's gleaming eyes. He stepped away slightly. "And what if he wasn't with her when it happened?" Leo replied. "What would it do to him then?"

To this, Raph had no answer. Leo stared at him a moment longer before turning back towards his family.

"Donnie," Leo said. "You're staying too." Before Donnie could reply, Leo continued. "I need you to work on making an antidote." His voice dropped. "Just in case."

"Leo, I don't have enough time. If I rush on this, I could just make something that'll harm her even more."

"Donnie," Leo said firmly, locking his eyes on his brother's. "You have to try." Then, much quieter, "It could be her only chance."

Donnie looked away, his brows furrowing. He had started chewing the corner of his bottom lip, a nervous habit he had developed recently. He nodded at Leo and turned away, only to turn back to the group momentarily.

"We all have to try. We _all _could be her only chance." He left with another small nod towards no one in particular. Everyone watched after him silently, before looking back towards those present.

Leo broke the silence. "Let's go," He said. At his command, the rest of those planning on going started towards the exit.

"Leonardo."

Leo turned to see Splinter, who had been in the background this whole time observing quietly.

"Yes, sensei?"

His master stepped towards him with a grave expression. "Please be careful," Splinter said. "You've been very worried lately. You mustn't let it cloud your judgment. You all have matured greatly and I trust you are able to conduct such a task on your own, but please, remember your priorities."

Leo frowned. "What are my priorities, sensei?"

Splinter put his hand upon his son's shoulder solemnly. "That is for you to decide, my son."

Leo stared at his master for a moment longer before nodding quickly and dashing off to join the rest.

* * *

"Okay, Lynn. I don't know if you can hear me, or if that's all made up, but if you can hear me, you gotta listen. It's Mikey, by the way."

Mikey laughed nervously.

"I don't know if you'd figured that out or not... but you probably did, so now I just sound kinda dumb. More-so than usual, I mean. Uh, anyways, listen. You can't die. Seriously. You owe me a lot. You can't just let me do all that for you and then die. That's stupid."

Mikey winced.

"Sorry. But really. April will seriously kick my butt if she finds out all that stuff I stole from her was for nothing. And, uh, I really like you, also. You're like the only friend I have. Besides my brothers. And April and Casey. But you know. I like you a lot. Let's just say that I would willingly endure the wrath of April for you. So you gotta hold on. Just for a little bit more. If it hurts, I'm sorry. I swear I'll make it up to you. But you just gotta bear it a little more. For me." Mikey thought about what Donatello had said earlier.

_We all could be her only chance._

"Please." Mikey said softly.

He took Emilynn's hand, squeezing it gently. It remained limp in his grasp.

"You can do it, Lynn. Just hang in there. Just a little bit longer."

He squeezed his eyes shut, holding Emilynn's tiny hand to his cheek.

_Please hurry up, _He silently begged of his brothers, _We're running out of time._

* * *

**Hello. It has been quite some time. I missed you, my dear readers. I totally have a very confusing and slightly disturbing love and admiration for all of you strangers. For which I am deeply sorry. Please don't call the police.**

**For those who have noticed and for those who have been wishing they could throw a shoe at my face this whole time: I changed the spelling of Casey's name. Sorry I had been doing it wrong. I am a dumb kid. **

**It's extremely difficult for me to get chapters out right now. Quite a lot of difficulties that I won't bother you to explain. I'm so sorry. Let me say it again: _I am a dumb kid_. **

**Leave a review? I would really really enjoy if you guys told me what you think. Or anything, really. I'm pretty lonely. **

**Joking, joking. **

**Not joking. Message me please. I live under a rock and need attention. **

**I write way too much gunk beneath my chapters because as I have said I am a dumb kid, so I will go now. I will try to reply to any messages I get whether it be a review or a PM, though it may take me quite some time because, as I have also said, I live under a rock. Alrighty. Until next time, lovelies.**

**P.S.**

**I swear I'm not as creepy as I sound. I just lack social skills. **

**Please don't call the police. **


	13. Chapter 13

Leo and Raph stood on the same rooftop that they and their brothers had occupied only a short while ago. It was hard to believe just how short of time it took for them to return to the scene of battle that they had fled just earlier that day. Despite the huge commotion they had caused earlier, the place looked deserted. Even the giant hole left in the wall from the Shellraiser somehow looked inconspicuous. Leo looked at Raph uncertainly.

"It doesn't seem like they're here anymore," Leo said.

Raph looked sideways at his brother, his face showing just how badly he wanted to say '_duh.' _Instead he said, "Got anywhere else to go, wiseguy?"

Leo huffed quietly. "No."

"So are we going or not?"

Leo looked down at the seemingly vacant building. "Yeah. Let's go." Together, they made they way to the ground. Instead of the aerial approach they had taken before, they the more obvious approach: the gaping hole in the wall. April and Casey were waiting a short distance away in the Shellraiser, waiting to bust in and provide backup if needed for the second time that day.

Raph reached the hole first. "Can't see a thing," he muttered to himself. Leo saw, too, that the large room was dark again. The light shining in from outside was only illuminating a surprisingly small portion of the room. There was rubble spewed across the floor from the Shellraiser's grand entrance. Other than that, there was no other sign of the fight that had taken place. Any evidence that had been there before Raph stepped over a large hunk of plaster into the building.

"Careful," Leo murmured. Raph scoffed.

"Careful? There ain't anything to be careful of 'cept tripping over this junk."

Leo didn't reply as he warily followed his brother through the mess. Inside the room, they stood aside each other and squinted through the darkness.

"Man," Raph sighed, "It's definitely empty. There's nothing here for us."

"Let's just look around a bit," Leo persisted. "There could be something here." He started walking forward into the gloom. Raph shook his head.

"Leo, we don't have time to go hunting for trolls in here. We gotta find out where the hell these guys went to."

Leo continued walking. "We don't really have anywhere else to look, Raph."

"_Still_, we need to-"

"Just a couple minutes," Leo said firmly, signifying that he was done arguing over it. Raph rolled his eyes to himself as he started trudging into the shadowy room after his brother. After a minute or so, Leo called out to his brother from across the room.

"Hey! I found something!"

Raph turned towards Leo's voice just as the entire place lit up. As his eyes cleared, Raphael saw, with the lights in the room now being on, his brother holding a remote in his hand. He walked to his side.

"That's the thing that ugly guy had earlier," Raph observed, squinting from the sudden brightness.

"Do you see anything?" Leo asked. Raph looked around him. Suddenly movement in the corner of his eye caused him to look above them. He stepped back, nudging his brother.

"Uh, I found the trolls."

Leo followed his brother's gaze. Above them was a series of beams, crisscrossing throughout the ceiling. They had been there earlier, as well, as the source of Raph and Leo's sneak attack. Only this time, the beams were swarming with Foot soldiers. They all gazed down on the two brothers hungrily like ravenous insects. As the two watched, a solitary soldier dropped to the ground. He held one obvious difference from the rest: the bottom half of his mask was completely open, leaving a sick grin exposed.

"So you did come back," He hissed. "In that case, I'm guessing you've figured it out. Karai _did _tell me that your group was smarter than it looks. Of course, I didn't believe her. Yet here you are. Hello again. Where's the other two? You don't plan on playing that trick on me twice, do you?"

Raph began towards the man, a scowl plastered on his face. Leo put out a hand to stop him, with a meaningful look at the company they held above them. Raph growled under his breath, but stopped his advance.

"They staid home," He said instead. "Don't worry, we won't be needing them."

The man chuckled darkly. "But I think Iknow what you animals _do _need, hmm?" As he said this, he withdrew a small vial from his belt of equipment. It contents were a murky brown color. Leo once again had to restrain his brother, who was much less patient about it this time.

"Let me _go,_ Leo. I'm gonna smash his ugly face in."

"Have you forgotten about the hundreds of Foot soldiers that are currently waiting to smash _your _face in, Raph?" Leo replied.

The man chuckled again. The sound of it made Leo feel sick. He desperately hoped that this was not the man that had been handling Emilynn all that time.

"You should listen to that one," the man said to Raphael. "He seems must smarter than you." Leo could feel Raph's body go rigid with fury. "In fact," said the man with a crooked smirk, "I think I'll do my business with him from now on. Won't you come here?"

This question had apparently been directed at Leonardo. Leo looked at Raphael.

"Don't." Raph whispered. Leo looked back at the man in front of them.

"Stay here, Raph." Leo said. Raph looked at him incredulously, stepping forward after his brother.

"Leo-"

"Raphael. _Stay. Here._" Leo's cold stare locked onto his brother. "I can handle it. Just don't. Move." Leo turned away and left his brother behind without waiting for a reply. He walked up to the man, who watched him quietly from his black orbs of eyes. Once Leo was before him, he grinned. Leo had to hold back a shudder at the sight of it.

"My, you're quite the sight from up close." The man whispered. He licked his cracked lips. "Repulsive," he added, voicing Leonardo's thoughts exactly.

"Who are you?" Leo asked. The man's mouth rounded as if he were surprised.

"Who wants to know?"

Leo stared at him blankly, which earned the turtle another sickening grin.

"Let's just say I'm a friend of an enemy, and an enemy of a friend." The man gurgled. His voice had a very strangled sound to it.

"What do you want?" Leo said, paying no attention to his remark.

"It's not what I want, turtle. It's what _he_ wants."

"The Shredder." Leo said bluntly.

"Ah, yes. That's what he calls himself. He's the boss. I don't usually work so close, but I do tend to drop by occasionally. I must admit, this is proving to be one of the more exciting visits."

Leo scowled to himself. He didn't like the way this man like to drawl on and on about things.

"Just tell me what he wants." He commanded.

"Now, now. Don't get bossy with me, turtle. My friends are very protective." He cast a pointed look to his 'friends' above them. Leo watched him silently, waiting for a reply.

"Alright, alright. Come here."

Leo watched him mutely. The man scowled, and stepped towards Leonardo instead. It took Leo a distracting amount of restraint not to flinch away as the man leaned in so their faces were side by side. Leo could hear his haggard breathing in his ear.

"You see, turtle. The Shredder wants two things right now. Dead girl, dead turtle. Earlier, the plan was to provide him with both. But seeing as that went a bit _wrong_, we've been put in a situation where we must, for now, opt for one of the two. So here's the options. One: leave now, take your brother, safe and sound, and _don't _take my antidote, letting the girl die. Or two: Let your brother die here."

Leo took an abrupt step back, freeing himself from the man's foul stench. "What?" He blurted. "There's no way I'd let you-"

"Ah, ah, ah, turtle," The man tutted. "You already have." He nodded towards the area behind Leo. Leo turned around to see an empty room. Raph had disappeared. He whirled back around the face the man.

"Where is he?" Leo shouted.

"Oh he's still here." At his cue, the Foot above the two of them started moving together. Leo watched as his brother's limp figure was drawn from their crowd and then roughly shoved. Leo cried out and ran to his brother as he fell through the air and smashed into the ground in a heap. Leo lifted his brother's head and felt for a pulse. It was still there. He turned back towards the man that was now grinning wider than he had ever before.

"What did you do to him?" Leo demanded.

"Oh, he's not dead or anything," Was the response, "Not yet, anyway."

Leo gritted his teeth together. "What did you do." He muttered.

"Hmm. Maybe you _are_ as stupid as you look." The man said silently, as if he were talking to himself. Then he gestured towards Raphael. "Seem familiar?" He asked. "It's the same thing we gave to your precious girly." He stopped, holding up a finger as if remembering something. "Well, almost. What your, uh, sibling, is it? Yes, well, anyways, what your sibling now has circulating through his body is the more _refined_ version of what we gave the girl. Would you like to now what I mean by that?"

Leo glared at him silently. After a long moment that made it clear the man was expecting an answer, Leo lowered his head and muttered: "Yes."

"I thought you would." The man continued. "To put it _simply_, he's going to experience the, er, _symptoms_," He paused for a moment, "_much_ faster."

Leo looked down at his brother's unconscious face. He couldn't deny what the man had meant by that. Raphael, if left untreated, would die. Soon.

"How much faster?" Leo forced out through his clenched teeth.

"I told you _much_, didn't I? It doesn't matter." Seeing Leonardo's expression afterwards, he continued. "Don't worry, you still have a few minutes to... decide."

Leo stared at the man blankly before looking away and closing his eyes. "Give me it," He said.

"What's that?" The man asked nonchalantly.

"Give. Me. The antidote." He had opened his eyes now, and watched as the sick man licked his lips gleefully. He once again withdrew the vial filled with the brown liquid. He threw it to Leonardo, who caught it in one hand.

"Just pour it in the mouth the see results. It's miraculous, really."

Leo looked at the liquid doubtfully. What if this was all a trick? He had absolutely no reason to trust this man. He felt for Raphael's pulse. Fright seared through him to find that it had already had a significant change. He couldn't shake the feeling that what the grinning man was telling him was true. But what about Emilynn? Leo thought back to what Splinter had said to him before he left: _Remember your priorities._

He unstopped the vial and poured it into his brother's mouth.

"Aha, trusting the bad guy. Not the smart choice."

Leo looked up at the man fearfully.

"Oh no, no," The man laughed, holding up his hands. "I wasn't lying to you. Just... for future reference, not a smart idea." As if on cue, the mass of Foot soldiers suddenly dropped from the ceiling, surrounding Raph and Leo and obscuring the leader from view. Leo bolted to his feet, expecting them to attack. Instead, they began slowly pouring out of the room.

"I'm glad you chose what you did, turtle." The voice of that sickening man called, rising up through the crowd somehow. "I think the boss will be, too."

Leo watched in stunned silence as the huge group disappeared. He only snapped out of his stupor when he heard his brother groan. He looked down at Raph, who had just opened his eyes. A huge scowl was plastered on his face.

"Leo," He mumbled, "There better be a good reason for why we're cuddlin' right now."

Leo said nothing as he helped his brother, who was having trouble sitting up on his own. Raphael groaned, grabbing his head with one hand.

"Ugh, I feel like shell. What'd they do t' me?" He looked at his brother. Leo shook his head.

"I'll tell you in the Shellraiser. Text April and tell her to come get us."

Raph's face screwed up as his looked at his phone. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and held it out to Leo. "You do it, man. Everything's blurry."

Leo took the phone and texted April. Less than a minute later, the Shellraiser came rumbling up to the building. Once it stopped, The front door opened and April hung out, looking for the two of them. Leo nudged Raph.

"Come on."

Raph grunted, rolling forward and trying to get up. Leo couldn't help but be slightly amused by the sudden sluggish way of Raph's movements. Then, feeling bad, he held out a hand to Raphael. Raph begrudgingly took it and allowed Leo to help him up.

"You okay?" Leo asked. Raph gave him an agitated look.

"Been better."

Together they made their way to the Shellraiser, where April watched them with a concerned expression.

"We didn't do it, did we?" Raph asked on their way. Leo looked down.

"No."

April's face fell as she saw their condition. Leo just shook his head at her. They didn't say anything as the two turtles situated themselves in the vehicle.

"Where to?" April said quietly. Casey got up from the driver's seat and allowed Leo to take his place. He went to sit beside Raphael, who was holding his head in his hands miserably.

"Home," Leo said.

They drove in silence on the way back. Shockingly, it was Casey who said what everyone had been thinking. Leo shook his head.

"How are we gonna tell Mikey?"

There was a long pause. Leo stared ahead silently. "I don't know," he said softly.

April looked up at him. "Leo, you don't have to-"

"I do," Leo cut her off. His voice had hardened. "I do have to."

The ride was silent again.

* * *

When they arrived at the lair, they weren't given a chance to think it over. As soon as the Shellraiser was turned off, they could hear Mikey's yelling. Quickly, they jumped up and opened the door. Mikey was running towards them, his face was full of panic.

"Guys!" He cried in a strangled voice. "You have to hurry! You have to give it to her _now!_ You have to-"

"Mikey," Leo said, stepping out in front of Mikey. He saw his little brother's eyes were full of tears. Mikey paid no attention, pulling on Leo's arm frantically.

"_Hurry_," Mikey begged. "We're losing her!" He cried. Then his voice suddenly dropped as he looked up and met his brother's eyes directly. "We're losing her, Leo."

Leo swallowed hard, looking at the ground. He gritted his teeth. "Mikey." He muttered firmly.

Then Mikey knew. Leo couldn't look up at him, but he could tell Mikey knew. It was the way Mikey just suddenly stopped. Everything just suddenly stopped.

"Leo," Mikey said, "What's wrong?"

It seemed like an eternity before Leo finally answered. "We don't have it."

Then Mikey was strangely quiet. Leo didn't dare to see how his brother must have been looking at him, but when he did, he found that Mikey wasn't looking at him at all. Mikey wasn't looking at anyone. His eyes had fixed on something in the background. His face was blank. Leo's first instinct was to shake his brother, hard. But he held back. He didn't want Mikey to go away now like he did other times. But he couldn't bring himself to snap Mikey out of it.

"Donnie."

Leo looked away from Mikey with surprise, remembering the rest of the group that stood behind him. It was April who had said it, but Donnie was nowhere in sight. She met Leo's eyes.

"Donnie's antidote." She said.

And suddenly everyone was running. They rushed through the lab doors to where Donnie was very frantically going between tables and screens as he worked. He made no sign of noticing the sudden crowd. At some point Emilynn had been moved, she now lay stretched out on a table beside Donnie. She had a dingy makeshift monitor attached to her. Splinter was in a chair between them. Unlike Donatello, he acknowledged the group.

"Children," He said, rising from his chair. He gazed at them sadly. "It was not a success, I see."

Heads were shook in response.

"How much longer does she got?" Raphael asked. Splinter looked as though he was going to respond, but Donnie was the one to answer.

"She's been going in and out. Her blood flow is extremely slow, and her heart has been having spasms. She's been stable for a minute or so now, but the last one was bad. The next one may be it." Due to his rush, his words came out without much emotion, but one glance at his face showed his distress. As if his words were cue, the monitor suddenly started blaring.

"Donnie!" Mikey wailed. Leo looked over at him, shocked that he was here. Maybe he hadn't been as gone as Leo had thought. Mikey flew to Lynn's side.

"Donnie, you have to give her the antidote," Leo said quickly. Donnie cast him an incredulous look.

"Leo, at this point the risks are just too high for me to-" His voice was cut off as the monitor attached to Lynn increased in volume with another series of more shrill beeps. Donnie looked at it, then back at the vial in his hands.

"Oh, no." He said.

"Donnie?" Leo asked, watching his brother. His heart beat frantically as he risked a glance at Lynn and at the monitor freaking out beside her. Mikey was kneeling beside her with his head buried in her pillow. He held onto her fervently. Everyone else was frantically swarming around her, hopelessly wishing they could do anything to help.

"We're out of time." Said Donnie.

"Then use the antidote!" Leo cried.

"Leo, you don't understand! At this point, this 'antidote' could do terrible things to her!"

"Donnie!" April yelled as she stared at the monitor's screen worriedly.

"Donnie, we don't have a choice," Leo said.

"But-"

"Please, Donnie."

The last statement had been Michelangelo's. He had lifted his head from the bed, and looked at Donnie. His eyes looked back to Emilynn, who looked more dead than alive.

"Do it," Mikey said. "Please."

Donnie looked back at the vial in his hand with a pained expression. It's contents were a murky brown color similar to that of the one the man leading the Foot had held earlier.

"Okay," he whispered.

Donnie walked over to Emilynn. The others cleared room for him as he approached and gently lifted her head, opened her mouth, and poured the vial's contents into it.

* * *

**There is a ton of ladybugs on my window right now. They're my friends. **

**Hello hello. I'm trying to write more. I just barely got my darling laptop back to slightly functioning-ness. My laptop is a cripple, but I love him dearly. It's a him, by the way. His name is Tim. If your name is Tim, hey. You have the same name as my laptop. It's a bit scary that I have such an emotional connection with my laptop, but I do. Tim was my first laptop. I paid for him with my very own very mature big kid money. The day I replace Tim will be a sad one, indeed. But he's still kicking for now. I adore Tim. I'm really sorry that I use up this space talking about my bond with my laptop. I love you Tim. **

**My life is sad.**

**Anyway, Tim's a little less dead, so I can write again. It's really not the same on anything not-Tim. But even with Tim alive (though very hobbled), I still live under a rock and have trouble actually publishing my chapters. I suck. I'm sorry. **

**I hope you liked the chapter. Tell me what you think. **

**If you actually read all this idiot stuff I say, you are a good kid. I want to be your friend. **

**Until next time. Tim loves you.**


	14. Chapter 14

"Why is it taking so long?" Mikey asked anxiously. Donnie put a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder.

"It takes time," He said vaguely. He didn't dare to admit that he wasn't entirely sure himself why an hour had already lapsed without any signs of her waking. He looked at Emilynn's monitor. At the moment, everything seemed okay. He looked down at Emilynn, who had already regained most of her color. Not seeing any significant change for the worse this far was a good sign, and he desperately hoped it would stay that way.

"You should come eat."

Mikey shook his head, watching Emilynn's still face. "I'm gonna wait," He said. Donnie sighed softly.

"Alright, Mikey. I'll bring you something."

Mikey shook his head again, more firmly this time. "I don't want anything." He absently brushed his fingertip along Emilynn's arm laying beside him as he spoke. Donnie's gaze was drawn to her wounds, checking quickly to see if they were still holding up as they should be, which they were.

"You sure?" Donnie asked doubtfully.

"Uh huh."

Donnie watched Mikey uncertainly for a moment longer before leaving to join the rest of the household. Mikey glanced up at his back as it disappeared. After a moment of staring after his brother blankly, Mikey laid his head on Emilynn's mattress and closed his eyes to wait.

* * *

Mikey awoke some time later, confused. For a moment he couldn't remember anything that had happened to him within the last few days.

All those memories came back in an instant as a small groan met his ears. Immediately, Mikey jumped up, looking down at Emilynn with wide eyes. Her face was scrunched up tightly. Her mouth moved in an unreadable fashion as she let out another grousing noise.

"Emilynn?" Mikey whispered excitedly. Her face twitched as he spoke. Then, with an abruptness that made Mikey stumble backwards in surprise, Emilynn's eyes flew open, accompanied by a huge gasp. This was followed by more frantic, gasping breaths that made Mikey fly to her side once again. He grabbed her, putting his face above hers. Her eyes were darting around wildly, refusing to land on anything. "Emilynn!" Mikey cried.

Emilynn jerked away from his touch with a shriek. Mikey had to struggle to keep her on her bed as she flailed in his grasp, crying out in a hoarse voice.

"Get off of me! Get away!" She wailed. Mikey refused to let go.

"Lynn!" He practically yelled. "Calm down! It's Mikey, it's Mikey!"

At this, Lynn froze, her eyes wide with bewilderment. "Mikey?" She whispered raggedly. Her eyes wandered around aimlessly again, refusing to land on anything in an unsettling way. As Mikey thought this, Emilynn squeezed her eyes shut for no apparent reason. "Mikey?" She whispered again, faintly.

"It's me," Mikey said, loosening his grip on her. "You're safe." Emilynn slumped with relief in his grasp. Her eyes remained shut tightly, a grimace forming on her face. Mikey watched her with concern, searching for any signs of a problem.

"Are you... okay?" He asked. He couldn't forget about the frantic rush Donatello had been in while making her an antidote. About how strongly Donnie had been against the idea of giving her the unfinished cure.

"It hurts," Emilynn said weakly. As she said this, her eyes opened again. Mikey, whose face was directly before hers, stared into the almost glowing iciness of her eyes. Her eyes didn't stare back.

"...Lynn," Mikey said slowly.

"What?" Lynn mumbled. Her eyes shifted, but still refused to meet his.

"Look at me," Mikey said. Emilynn frowned.

"What?" She repeated sluggishly. "You want me to..." She trailed off, as one of her hands reached up towards her face. Her fingers landed on her eyes gently, but then drew back quickly. "Mikey," She whispered worriedly. She felt her eyes again.

"What..?" Mikey asked apprehensively.

Lynn's expression changed to fear. "I... I can't see anything. Are there- are the light's off?"

Mikey's face darkened. "No, they're not." He watched as Emilynn's eyes started darting around again, seeing nothing. Emilynn reached out, her hand landing on Mikey's forearm. Her head fell in the direction of her hand as her eyes sought it out, finding nothing.

"Why can't I see?" Emilynn rasped in alarm. "_Mikey_."

Mikey stood up and squeezed Emilynn gently. "Don't move, Lynn. I'll be right back."

Lynn jumped slightly. "Don't go." She pleaded.

"I'll be right back," Mikey repeated. "I promise."

The hand that had touched Mikey's arm somehow managed to reach him again. Mikey's heart thudded heavily as her small hand grasped tightly onto his wrist.

"Swear on your mother's life?" She said in a small voice, using their coined phrase from the last time they had spoken to each other.

Mikey smiled at her in amazement. How she could say such a thing at a time like this, he didn't know.

"Now, Lynn. You know I can't do _that_," He replied, playing along in a tired voice.

She smiled weakly at him. He squeezed her arm with his free hand. "I promise, Lynn."

She nodded, lowering her head and releasing his arm. His skin pulsed sadly where she had been, as if it had been robbed of a part of itself. Mikey turned and ran from the lab. He dashed to Donnie's room as quickly as he could, calling out his brother's name as he went. Donnie was out of his door before Mikey could even reach it, squinting groggily at Mikey. He had apparently been sleeping, and wasn't wearing any of his gear. His mask dangled loosely in his fingertips. As soon as Donnie registered what was happening, his face filled with trepidation.

"Emilynn's awake," Mikey announced quickly. "There's something wrong with her."

Donnie's eyes widened. "What is it?"

"She can't see," Mikey informed him in a rush. "Come _on_." With that, Mikey took off running again, and Donnie obliged to follow him.

Mikey burst through the doors loudly, making Emilynn almost fall off her makeshift bed. Donnie came in seconds after.

"Mikey?" Emilynn called out fearfully.

"It's me," Mikey assured her. "I brought one of my brothers. He's a super genius. He'll help." He walked over to Emilynn, who lifted her head in the direction of his voice. Her eyes stared blankly into the distance, which Donnie noticed immediately.

"She can't see?" He asked. Mikey nodded. Donnie stood in thought silently.

"Well, what's wrong with her?" Mikey demanded. He moved to his favorite spot at Emilynn's side.

"I don't know yet, Mikey," Donnie said patiently. He moved closer to Lynn, whose eyes were darting around blindly in fear.

"Emilynn," Donnie said softly, "You're sure you weren't like this before..." He trailed off, unsure of where to end his sentence.

Emilynn shook her head, her eyes stopping with their frantic search for anything to see and resting on a blank spot of her lap. "No," She said faintly. Donnie nodded, going silent again as he almost absently waved his hand in front of her face.

"_Don," _Mikey prodded anxiously. Donatello sighed, dropping his hand.

"I _told _you that the antidote I gave her would be very risky..." Donnie said slowly. He reached out towards her arm that was closest to him. Emilynn flinched away when he touched her. "I just want to check how you're doing," He murmured to her. She relaxed her arm and let him feel for her pulse while also looking over her more serious injuries.

"You made her _blind_?" Mikey asked, his voice rising.

"Mikey," Said a new voice. The two turtles turned to see Leo and Raph close behind them, watching. Neither had any clue when either of the two had shown up. Leo was the one who had spoken.

"We all knew the risk that we were taking when we used the antidote. None of this is Donnie's fault. If it wasn't for Donnie, Emilynn wouldn't be alive right now."

Mikey flinched, moving closer to Emilynn. She was sitting with a confused grimace on her face. She clutched the blanket they had given her to her chest tightly.

"I know," Mikey said miserably. "Sorry, Donnie. It just... sucks."

Donnie nodded. "I know, Mikey. But it's better than the alternative."

"I'm blind," Emilynn whispered in a way that made it difficult to tell if she was stating it or asking it. "Forever?"

The brothers stared at her in wonder as her wide eyes stared eerily into the distance, a frightened look on her face.

"I don't know," Donnie said uneasily. He moved to his computer without any explanation and began searching through it's contents. The rest of the turtles stood still, unsure of what to do. They all hummed around Emilynn in an awkward silence.

Leo couldn't help but stare at her. He could tell how she might have caught his brother's eye. Even after all she had been through in the last couple of days, she was undeniably beautiful. It was a mesmerizing sort of beauty, that made it difficult to look away, almost as if she would disappear if she was lost sight of for even just an instant. Her eyes were especially fascinating. Leo had never seen eyes like hers before. He would have thought before that such a color blue was not possible to have as an eye color. They were practically haunting- like they could see straight into a person. The way her eyes now roamed vacantly across the room only added to the terror.

"How do you feel?" Donnie asked, breaking the silence.

"Like shit." Emilynn blurted in a hoarse voice. Donnie's brow shot upwards. There was a moment of stunned silence before Raphael snickered.

"She ain't lying," He said with a smirk, "My head's still killin' me and I was only under for about two seconds."

Donnie laughed awkwardly, addressing Emilynn. "Well, uh, I'll trying to make you something, then. For the pain."

Raphael scoffed. "I see how it is. Make one for the chick but completely ignore when your own brother's got a freakin' migraine bigger than Mikey's appetite."

Donnie gave Raphael a sideways glance. "I was a little busy then, Raph." He stood up and began rifling through some of his shelves. Raphael rolled his eyes and waved off his brother with a hand. He stepped towards Emilynn, leaning down towards her slightly.

"It kinda feels like your brain's turned to mush, right?" He asked. "But like it's also somehow being stabbed with a flamin' hot knife about a thousand times over? Like, everywhere?"

Emilynn bristled at the close proximity of his voice, but nodded slightly. Raphael straightened up and looked around at his brothers with an involuntary frown. "I bet all this talkin's not doin' any help," He muttered.

"You're right," Leo said abruptly, straightening up. He looked at Emilynn thoughtfully. "It's not comfortable in here at all. Donnie, is she safe to move?"

Donatello paused and looked at Emilynn, his eyes flickering to the screen beside her for a moment. "Yeah," He said slowly. "Where, exactly?"

"She can have my room." Mikey piped in quickly. His brothers looked at him doubtfully. He looked at Emilynn nervously. "I mean, is that okay with you, Lynn? Staying in my room?"

Emilynn's bottom lip puckered in a frown. "Uh-huh" She said faintly. Mikey gave her a concerned look.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Uh-huh," Emilynn murmured again. "Tired."

Donnie placed a bunch of bottles on his desk and turned his head to look at Emilynn and Michelangelo. "She's fine, Mikey. She's just really worn out. You should just let her sleep. In... your room?" He looked at Leo for affirmation. Leo cleared his throat quickly.

"Uh, sure. Mikey's room is fine, I guess."

"I can take her," Mikey offered. They all looked at her as she began to sway slightly. "I don't think she can walk," Mikey said.

"Definitely not," Donnie agreed. Mikey nodded and bent down to pick her up. Emilynn gasped wildly at the contact, wrenching away.

"Lynn, I'm trying to take to my room. Remember my room? The best room of all rooms, right?" His brothers eyed him suspiciously, but he paid them no mind. Emilynn sighed slightly, nodding.

"Sorry," She mumbled. "Jumpy. Your room. Yeah." She seemed to suddenly be having a difficult time forming any sort of complex sentence, but she held out her arms childishly, and Mikey picked her up off of the bed. She hissed with pain as he lifted her, digging her nails into his skin.

"Ouch," Mikey whispered. Emilynn murmured another groggy 'sorry,' but didn't loosen her grip. Mikey winced slightly at his brothers, before carrying Emilynn away. His brothers stared at his back with puzzled expressions as he left.

Mikey lay Emilynn on his bed as softly as he possibly could. She sighed with relief as her head hit his pillow. "Better," She said softly. She seemed to regain some of her composure, as she turned her head to him. "Mikey?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay?"

"Yeah."

Emilynn smiled dazedly. "Thanks."

Mikey watched as she rolled back over, closing her eyes. He picked up his blanket and laid it across her. She gratefully rubbed her face into it, falling silent. Michelangelo sat on the end of the bed and watched her fall asleep for the second time in his life. Once he was sure that she was no longer awake, he got up silently and walked back to join the rest. Outside of the lab doors, Mikey could hear his brothers in an intense conversation. He stopped to listen after hearing them say his name.

"What about Mikey?" Donatello had asked.

"You _know _what Mikey would think, Don," Leo replied. "But think about the risks."

"_What _risks?" Raphael said hotly.

"The Foot Clan being after her, for one. Or what about her finding out about us? Do you plan on lying to her forever? Or what about Mikey? What if- what if she hurts him?"

"Lee, you're bein' paranoid. Right now she's the only thing keepin' Mikey sane. And what about how we took care of April? How is this chick any different?"

Mikey could hear Leo sigh. "April was an exception, Raph. We needed her for our team. Besides, we _knew _why the Foot wanted April. But we have no clue what their deal is with Emilynn. Why is she so important? Why haven't we heard of her before? What if she's working for them?"

"Just cool it, Leo. Wait until her brain starts functioning properly and ask her yourself if you don't trust her."

"What if we don't have time, Raph? What if-"

"Leo," Donnie cut in, "You _are _being a bit paranoid. Don't you think if the Foot was planning some kind of attack they would have done it already? We're already passed our most vulnerable point. Besides, you know as well as I do that they hadn't actually wanted us to capture her. I really don't think she was supposed to be on their side."

Leo groaned. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I just... I can't forget my priorities. Alright. Fine. She can stay, for now."

Mikey bristled slightly at the way Leonardo had said _for now_. A soft hand suddenly lay across his shoulder. He whirled around wildly, only to come face-to-face with Splinter.

"Sensei!" Mikey whispered with surprise. It was clear to him that Splinter had heard all that he had, if not more. He looked up into Splinter's gentle eyes worriedly. "Do _you_ think she's on their side?" He asked anxiously. Splinter shook his head solemnly.

"I cannot be sure," He said. "But I trust your brothers."

Mikey's mouth opened quickly. "But, Sensei! You can't let them get rid of her!"

Splinter raised one of his eyebrows at Mikey questionably. "I did not hear any plans to get rid of her, Michelangelo." He squeezed his son's shoulder. "Do not worry so much; It's ravaging your mind. You haven't been yourself, lately. It's been causing your brothers quite a lot of distress, too."

Mikey's brow furrowed. "Really?" His sensei nodded.

"You should rest, Michelangelo."

Mikey looked down at his feet, frowning in thought. "Yeah," He said. He looked back up at Splinter. "You should too, Dad."

At this, Splinter chuckled softly. "I think you're right," He said. He glanced towards the lab where the rest of his sons were residing. "In fact, I believe I should go do that this very instant. I hope you will do the same?" Mikey smiled crookedly.

"Yeah, yeah. I just gotta do something first." He gestured at the wide doors leading into the lab. Splinter seemed to understand.

"Very well. Goodnight, Michelangelo."

"Goodnight."

Splinter turned away first, vanishing into their dimly lit home. Mikey turned to the lab doors, which he made sure to open with a fair amount of noise. His brothers' conversation stopped as he entered the room. "Hey guys," He said, trying to sound cheerful. After what Splinter had said, he couldn't help but notice the apprehensive way they looked at him. It was like he was a bomb that they were waiting to go off unexpectedly in their faces. "What's going on?"

"We were just about to go back to bed," Leo answered for them all with a shrug. "What about you?"

"Oh, same here. I'm gonna camp out on the couch, I guess. I just wanted to talk to you guys for a sec' before turning in."

They perked up at this. "What about?" Leo asked, once again speaking for the group.

"I just... wanted to say thanks. To all of you." Mikey shrugged sheepishly. "I guess I've been acting pretty nuts lately. So thanks for putting up with me, and stuff. And for helping with Lynn..." He looked up at the three of them. "If it wasn't for you guys, I'd be- I mean, Lynn would be-" He stopped, suddenly unable to go on. He turned his wet eyes to the floor as he realized just how much his brothers had done lately, all for his sake.

Raphael, who had been closest to Mikey, marched up to his younger brother and grabbed him in a clumsy bear hug. "Anything to shut your trap." He grumbled. Leo and Donnie looked at each other briefly before walking over and joining the embrace until they all stood in an awkward huddle, wrapped around Michelangelo. Mikey's laugh was muffled against his brothers' skin as he tried his best to hug them all back.

"Thanks, guys," He murmured. "Thanks."

* * *

**Wapow. Chapter fourteen. I'm proud of myself. Lately all I've been doing with my life besides hanging out with my hermit crabs and wasting away on The Sims is working on this story, so it's been going a little faster. For me, anyways. Publishing the chapters still takes a bit of time. Sorry sorry. Hope you liked it, guys. The weather's been lovely and I've been alright and I hope your lives are swell. I highly encourage you all to feel free to review or message me about anything, but you probably know that by now. Seriously you guys are all so charismatic and exciting and I love it. Hurray for you. Alrighty, until chapter fifteen. Byee.**


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